Once And Again
by SanitysOverrated87
Summary: An old plot changed up. The future is bleak for Konoha, of Team 7 only one survives. It is Sasuke. Almost broken by his regrets and anger at his choices he wishes to make things right. Kyuubi grants his wish. Slightly Sasu/Naru complete
1. Bitter Regrets

_**Alright well...This is a first for me. Naruto fanfiction. The plot is a familiar one: One of team 7 gets sent into the past to save the future. Only this time it is Sasuke not Naruto. This will only go about until Sasuke finds out about Itachi. He won't get into the attack Konoha phase though, this will happen first. But you see I kinda like the emo bastard lol. I don't own Naruto or its characters!  
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_**Give it a chance though, the story will be pretty good later I promise. Also, the story will develop further about exactly why Sasuke wanted so desperately to go back in time and change everything. Encouragement will be needed for this story to be continued though, I'm a bit unsure how much people will like it.**_

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A flash of pink and green,  
A whiskered grin,  
A flare of red,  
A solemn vow,  
A dark regret,  
A determined man.

* * *

All around him the world was burning. He could barely see the stars through the thick smoke that threatened to choke him with every breath. For a moment he stood in silence and stared at the world around him. There was so much noise; screams filled the air as people died, wood creaked as the fire ate away at its strength, metal on metal screeched as the fighting continued but for him…there was nothing, no noise, no sound, no movement. Nothing but the silence of death as Sasuke Uchiha stared at the two dead bodies beside him.

The first body had light pink hair, a color that was shocking and unusual, though at the moment it was thick and matted, the color darkened beyond recognition with blood. Her eyes would normally be shining a bright vibrant green, always shining with hope and emotions but at the moment her eyes were dull and lifeless in death. She was Sakura Haruno…the only woman who'd ever looked at me as more than an object to win or kill. She'd grown very strong in the last few years, powerful and strong enough to gain a reputation other than her apprentice to Tsunade status.

The second body was the one that caused him the most pain however. The face was exhausted, the body mangled. He looked down at the body and felt a wave of anger unlike any he had ever felt before. But beneath that anger was a strong sense of regrets and despair. He touched a hand to the once blond hair and trailed a finger down the whisker marks on his friends cheek. Naruto Uzumaki…the container of the nine-tailed demon. He was a bundle of determination, fire, and strength. He had been his best friend. They'd both been friends.

And now they were dead.

Sasuke looked up at the man who had killed them and felt his feelings of regret grow until they threatened to bring him to his knees. Orochimaru…the man he had gone to for power, to learn and gain strength…he'd attacked the village with his other sound ninjas. Sasuke had no idea how, but Orochimaru'd managed to get enough ninja on the inside to attack them from the inside.

If he'd listened…if he'd never fled the village, if he'd stayed when Naruto had stopped him…He pushed his regrets aside and let the anger strength until all he felt was the need to bleed the man before him.

_A flash of pink and green. "Sasuke! I am so glad you're back! Even under these circumstances."_

Within hours of the attack the Village Hidden in the Leaves had been utterly destroyed. When Sasuke had realized what Orochimaru had been up to, he'd flown to the village to try to help them. He might have left, but his loyalty was always and would always be to the Leaf Village. They'd loved him when he'd hated himself. Orochimaru had killed Naruto and Sakura when they'd stumbled across Orochimaru and Sasuke fighting; they'd died trying to help him.

"_Heh! I knew you couldn't stay away teme!" A whiskered grin._

"Orochimaru…you are going to die." Sasuke growled standing and moving around the mangled bodies of his two friends.

"Now, now Sasuke…you can't kill me." Orochimaru tsked stalking closer his tongue swirling around his lips.

_A flare of red, "I am yours to free now Sasuke. Now that my Naruto is dead. Give me the life of the snake."_

Sasuke laughed lifting one hand to reveal an orange chakra swirling around it. "I don't have to." He released the chakra and it exploded outward. When the smoke cleared Sasuke stood on the head of Kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox. "He shall do it for me."

"**You stupid human…how dare you attack my Naruto.**" The voice of the fox was loud enough that everyone in the village stopped to cover their ears and scream. The sound ninja's had begun to celebrate their victory, began to let their guard down now that every Leaf ninja they saw was nothing but a pile of meat and bones.

"I thought that the death of that foolish boy would make you happy fox. Now you are free to slaughter." Orochimaru bowed low in an attempt to placate the demon but he tried to flee when one of the demon's tails wrapped around him, effectively rendering him utterly useless.

"**That is why you are stupid.**" Kyuubi growled. With a roar he sent a blast of fire strong enough to destroy the last survivors and reduce the village to ash. Orochimaru didn't have time to scream as the fox opened his mouth and sent the stream of fire straight at him, his body disintegrated within seconds.

When the world had calmed again Sasuke leapt to the ground beside the only two bodies that had survived the conflagration. He ran his hand gently down their cheeks and slowly he turned to look up at the fox. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect him." He bowed low to the demon, his eyes stinging with unshed tears.

Years ago he'd met the fox through Naruto's mind and since their meeting, the Kyuubi had always been able to visit him in his own mind. They'd grown to have a mutual respect for each other though Sasuke understandably held more respect for the fox than the fox held for the Uchiha. During one of their many conversations Sasuke had vowed to protect Naruto with his life.

"_Though it might be too late…he is my best friend. I will keep him safe for you Kyuubi." A solemn vow._

Kyuubi's tails swished violently behind him then slowly stilled. "**There is still a way for you to protect him.**"

Sasuke looked up his eyes wide with wonder and hope. "How Kyuubi? I'll do anything to take back the mistakes I've made. To restore what I helped destroy…"

"**There is a forbidden jutsu…it will send you into the past to the first day I became aware of your presence.**" Kyuubi explained lowering his head to Sasuke's level. His red eyes bore into Sasuke's and Sasuke trembled beneath his wise gaze. The years had mellowed the once angry angsty boy into a man who regretted…regretted so many things.

"To when we first met? That isn't far back enough." Sasuke muttered thinking of their first face to face meeting years after he had been in Orochimaru's clutches.

"**To when I first became aware of you…**"Kyuubi corrected. "**The day I escaped on the bridge in the Country of Waves.**"

Sasuke looked up at the fox his eyes wide. "You can do that?" At the foxes nod he straightened and nodded. "Do it."

"**You have no second thoughts do you? You realize you will be back in the body you had then, your skills might disappear but you will remember.**" Kyuubi explained leaning down toward the small man.

"I only need to remember." Sasuke responded quietly and closed his eyes as Kyuubi began the jutsu.

"**Forbidden Jutsu: Reverse Time!**" Kyuubi shouted and Sasuke felt a large force of chakra slam into his chest sending him reeling backwards.

He felt the world around him tremble and whorl and for a moment he let himself get lost in his memories. For over seven years he had lived under Orochimaru. He'd spent the last four regretting his desertion of the Leaf village and wondering where it had all gone wrong.

_A dark regret, "If I had never left..."_

When he'd left, he'd been so certain that he had to leave, had no choice if he wanted to get the power to kill his brother. And in some way he was right. He had killed his brother but it was bitter ashes in his mouth. The Hokage had ordered Itachi to kill the traitorous clan. For a long time Sasuke had hated the village for taking his family away but in his heart he understood why they'd done it. The Uchiha's were harsh no matter what Sasuke had wanted to believe. They demanded perfection at the cost of pleasure, power at the cost of lives. They were almost exactly like Orochimaru.

No wonder he wanted one of them so bad.

But Sasuke also knew that a big part of the reason he had left the village after Orochimaru was the curse seal, it infected his mind and body, like a drug he had to have more of. It compelled him to go to Orochimaru. Fortunately where he was being sent was before the curse seal ever happened. Plus in the time with Orochimaru he'd learned how to remove the curse. His eyes almost opened into the rush of images around him at the thought of how much he now knew about Orochimaru and the places his bases were. _Now I can destroy him before he gets the chance to do anything to those I love. _He began to think of people with the curse mark that wanted it removed and realized there was only one person besides him that hated the mark: Anko Mitarashi.

With a lurch the world righted himself and he groaned at the intense pain his body was in. _Time to make things right._

_A determined man. _

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Note 12/1/09:

Yes, thank you, I realize that Sasuke and Kyuubi are acting different from the manga and anime. I _wrote _them that way so I can't imagine why'd there'd be an assumption that I didn't notice...

They are the way they are because that is how I wanted them to develop. Don't like it, just don't read it.

Thanks! :)

Note 1/29/10

Thank you **Sarah1281 **who noticed a slip up in this chapter where I wrote both Sasuke and Orochimaru as killing Itachi. My bad!

_**AUTHORS NOTE 6/17/11: I am gettiing really tired of people who read nine chapters and complain at me so I'm adding this here and at the end of the latest chapter. This story IS Sasuke/Naruto, HOWEVER, they are twleve years old! There is no kissing, no making out, no fondoling, no sex NOTHING of that kind. I do not believe children that age should be doing those things and that they are not mentally or physically developed enough to do that. So, that being said, it is pretty much PRE-slash/yaoi and only happy feelings of comfort and friendship. ALSO, I noted ORIGINALLY that I was only following up to around where Itachi died in Canon, I am pretending that nothing after that ever happened! I KNOW Orochimaru couldn't really do all he does in this, I DO NOT CARE. It's AU. If this bothers you just don't read. I'm sorry for ranting but I am annoyed.**_


	2. Into the Past

_**Don't own Naruto (didn't say that before lol) Anyway here is chapter twoooo. It is totally for Dreaming-For-A-Nightmare now. Cause she rocks my socks off. **

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A stray black hair,  
A single black eye,  
Whiskered cheeks frowned,  
A scowl tinged with amusement,  
Blue eyes fierce.

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He could hear his name being called over and over in a tearful voice. His heart pounded harshly at the sound of the familiar voice. "Sakura…" He moaned trying to sit up. He opened his eyes to see her close to him tears running from the corner of her eyes as she sat over his wounded body. He felt like crying himself. The last time he had seen her she'd been about nineteen years old and pale in death. But here she was, twelve years old and as vibrant as only Sakura in her obsessed days could be. She grabbed onto him heedless of the needles that riddled his body and he groaned as she bent one. "That hurts!" He hissed leaning back away from her as she began to apologize profusely. He took a moment to look her over and felt a smile tugging at his lips though he fought it back. It wasn't the same 'Uchiha's don't smile reason' as it would have been when he was younger, more…coming back from being 'dead' and smiling…was a bit strange and he didn't want to have to explain it.

Sasuke looked around frantically, searching for his other friend. "Where's Naruto?" He managed to ask around the pain still filling his body.

"Oh! He's fine! And that masked kid is dead. I am so glad you are alright Sasuke!" Sakura blurted almost wrapping her arms around him again.

For a moment Sasuke could only stare at her in disgust. _I'd forgotten how focused she was on me and only me when we were this young. _He looked away when she started gushing about how he'd managed to avoid getting killed. He closed his eyes in remembrance. "It wasn't me." He said softly picturing the masked boy who'd fought with him. _His name was…Haku. No matter what…he hated killing more than anything. I never forgot that._

_A stray black hair, "If possible I don't want to have to kill you. Nor want you to have to kill me."_

"Naruto!" Sakura called out turning towards the two other ninjas. Sasuke struggled to his feet his eyes going toward Naruto and Kakashi. "Sasuke is alive!"

The shorter ninja whipped around his bright blue eyes searching until they clashed with Sasuke's own black gaze. A flash of red in Naruto's eyes showed Kyuubi's acknowledgement of him and Sasuke knew that later he would have to try to get a hold of Kyuubi. Sasuke raised a hand in greeting a small smirk on his lips as his gaze took in the young Naruto Uzumaki.

A silver-headed man turned to Naruto and Sasuke felt his heart clench. Kakashi had been dead a long time in his own memory. Almost three years in fact. It felt wonderful to be able to see him as tired and dirty as he was kneeling there in the middle of the bridge. Naruto looked back at their teacher and the two of them began to talk.

"Hey!" A voice called on the far side of the bridge. "Don't think to ignore us! You just killed our meal ticket!" The man stepped forward his brigands close behind him.

"Yeah! Now move so we can get to the village and take our payment out of their homes." Another bandit declared striding forward.

Sasuke started forward to his friend and mentor despite the debilitating injuries he had. For a moment the fact that this had all played out once before slipped his mind, instead he could only see the need to help his teammates. Naruto and Kakashi stood before him now and suddenly he became aware of the dozens of villagers behind him.

The young boy they'd been housing with stood forefront and his crossbow bolt had stopped the advance of the brigands. "IF YOU COME ANY FURTHER INTO OUR LAND, THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY WILL STOP YOU WITH EVERYTHING WE HAVE!!"

Sasuke sighed his lips settling into another small smirk at the threatening features of the once cowardly child.

_A single black eye. "That is the power of Naruto; more than chakra, more than anything else, his ability to give strength to the weak."_

Naruto's jubilant cry brought a smile to the child's face. "The hero always shows up at the last second right?"

Naruto laughed and made a hand sign. "Well I'll help too!" And with a poof there were five Narutos blocking the road. Kakashi mimicked the hand sign and a few dozen of him joined Naruto's clones. The brigands turned tail and ran much like the dogs they were and Sasuke felt himself shaking.

_Kyuubi…I had forgotten how injured I was. And the chakra drain of unleashing my sharingan here as well as the chakra drain from before you sent me back…I think I might pass out. _Sasuke thought to himself as the villagers began to celebrate all around him. He felt them patting his back and a few trying to hug him regardless of the needles and Sakura's screams of rage but all he saw was Kakashi gently lifting the body of the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

Regrets began to twist in him again and he felt himself moving forward to Naruto's side. _Would I have ended up like this at one point? _He asked himself watching the dying man gently touch the face of the only person he'd ever cared for. _Dying alone and only in the last moments of my life realizing exactly where I'd gone wrong?_

He shook his head and rested one hand on Naruto's shoulder as the boy began to cry with the snow falling gently around them. _No…Naruto would never have let that happen, he __**didn't **__let that happen. _He felt Naruto's gaze on him but remained still his head bowed in respect for the two ninja's that had been their enemies.

_Whiskered cheeks frowned, "Is that what it means to be a true ninja? Well I don't like it."_

**

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A day later

Sasuke quietly snuck from the room he was supposed to be healing in and settled himself carefully on the roof. His mind was too active to just lie in bed and stare at the ceiling. At least out here he had the stars, the moon, and the water to watch while he thought.

_Kyuubi's jutsu worked perfectly. I am back in my twelve year old body. I can feel my sharingan settling into my system and the restrained chakra in my veins. I wonder…_

He leapt from the roof and swiftly darted out across the water until there was a great distance between him and the house. Alone and unseen he settled into his fighters stance and began to move through hand signs. At the final one he settled and shouted, "**Fire element:****Fire Dragon Flame Blast**!"A streamof fire shot fromhis mouth into the shape of a dragon. It was small and wavered quickly but Sasuke deduced that given a few weeks of hard training, he might be able to get to the level he was at before being sent into the past.

_A scowl tinged with amusement, "You really take your training seriously don't you?"_

He began the long trek back to the house wondering just what he was going to do. He wanted to change the future, keep things from ending the horrible way they had but what effect would some of the changes have. What if he didn't leave only to end up getting Naruto killed by Akatsuki? His face closed down in anger at the thought. _No…no matter what…Naruto will be safe. After everything he has done for me…keeping him safe is the least I can do._

He was just a bit away from the house when his thoughts turned to who would believe him if he were to talk with someone about how he'd changed and the future he'd seen when he felt the presence of another. He looked up expecting to see Kakashi or Sakura ready to scold him but instead he was face to face with Naruto.

_Blue eyes fierce, "I won't quit."_

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**Pairing _is _Naruto and Sasuke. HOWEVER! The relationship develops slowly so do not expect sex. Odds are, it won't happen until after a time skip. They are twelve...ew.**

Like I said: for Dreaming-Of-A-Nightmare. Though you people reviewing rock, most of those reading suck. REVIEW! At least five or no updates, cause I mean come on! This is pretty damn good even if I say so myself!


	3. Death in Memory

_**Chapter 3! At long last right? Well I'm still unsure what to keep true to the manga and what to change but I'm pretty much decided it will stay pretty true until the Chunnin exams then it will become my changed version.**_

_**Warning: there is character death in the flashback of doom. **_

_**I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter but I think there is a good start of relationships going on. I feel like I wanted to say something else before beginning but...I don't remember what. **_

_**For Dreaming-Of-A-Nightmare, LauraNeatO, OniSaruKaraJigoku, Mizuki hikari, and Pryotra.**_

_A small smile  
Sad eyes full of pain  
A toothy grin  
A silent scream  
A desperate promise  
A sharp laugh  
_

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"Sasuke?" Naruto muttered rubbing his eyes and yawning. "What are you doing out here. You were injured pretty badly." He walked forward only to stop when the water lapped at his ankles. He stared at the water then at Sasuke standing on top of the water. "H-hey! When did you learn that?!" Naruto asked suddenly wide awake.

Sasuke said nothing for a moment then felt a soft smile tug at the edges of his mouth. _Maybe just maybe…he could start over and be the friend Naruto had always needed. _"I figured it out tonight. Want me to teach it to you dobe?"

"Stop calling me dobe." Naruto growled trying to scowl at Sasuke but it was wiped out by a wide smile as he scratched the back of his head. "You really don't mind teaching me?" He asked a bit nervously.

_A small smile, "You were always so cool Sasuke."_

Sasuke moved toward the shore to get near Naruto. _I really was unapproachable wasn't I? _He paused a few inches from Naruto and crouched. "It's a lot like tree walking." He started, "Except instead of using just enough chakra to stick you need to use a constant amount to make you float." He turned and picked up a foot, "It takes a lot of control."

Naruto grinned and started forward. "Alright let's give this a try!" He concentrated and Sasuke could see the start of chakra swirling around his feet. Naruto stepped forward and balanced slightly on top of the water. "I did it!" He shouted then immediately sank into the three inches of water. "What!"

Sasuke laughed and moved to the shore and plopped into the sand. "You need to concentrate. The longer you practice it, the easier it is to make it second nature. I had started learning back…when my family was still alive." He looked down his eyes flashing with memories he had let haunt him and a certain someone's regret that he hadn't learned about until recently. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Naruto leaning down to him, his eyes wide with questions. He shook my head to disperse the memories. "It's nothing dobe. Anyway, the more you practice the less you need to think about it to make it work."

_Sad eyes full of pain, "We are so alike, both hated and alone for things we didn't do."_

Naruto looked at Sasuke silently with an unusually solemn expression on his face. For a moment Sasuke feared Naruto would ask questions he didn't want to answer but instead Naruto's face turned away and he headed back to the water. "I'm not going back to bed until I learn to do this!" He cheered happily as he walked away but Sasuke could see the curiosity and the other emotions he was trying to hide behind that mask.

_Even this far back…you were hiding so much Naruto._ Sasuke thought to the silly blond boy and smiled as he watched Naruto practice the jutsu.

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A few days later

Sasuke peered at the sleeping Naruto and then checked the surrounding area for anyone else before closing his eyes and reopening them to reveal his sharingan. He focused on Naruto and as he let out a breath he slid into Naruto's mind and into the dungeon inside of Naruto.

"**Hello Uchiha**_**.**_" A dark voice came from behind bars. Two red eyes peered out at him and Sasuke bowed to the demon Kyuubi.

_A toothy grin, "You really want me to kill you don't you brat?"_

"Hello Kyuubi." Sasuke greeted the powerful creature with a respectful bow.

"**How****is it that I can still feel a bit of my power surrounding you boy. We've never had anything to do with each other. I barely talk to the idiot I am incased in now**_**.**_" Kyuubi growled his face coming close to the bars and his nose poking slightly outward.

"It is a long story Kyuubi. And one you might not believe." Sasuke responded moving closer to the bars. He knew that if Kyuubi wanted he could kill him, but he also knew that for now, the curiosity of the fox would be a good protection. "In truth though my body is that of a twelve year old, in my mind, I am twenty years old. You see, I come from a future where Naruto and everyone else has died. You sent me back in time to correct it."

He could feel the laughter of the fox in the rumbling of the dungeon. "**Why would I want you to come back to change a future where I am free?**" The voice rumbled darkly around Sasuke but he knew that beneath the anger of his confinement, Kyuubi wanted Naruto safe.

"You like Naruto, you care for him as your own child. I made you a promise to always protect Naruto and you are helping me keep that promise." Sasuke responded and refused to back down as Kyuubi launched himself at the cage doors growling. "You can fight it all you want Kyuubi, I've known you for a very long time now."

The dark fog condensed until a fox the size of a very large dog sat on the other side of the bars, its nine tails twitching in the air behind him. "**You are either very brave…or very stupid.**" Kyuubi remarked his head tilting to the side.

"You once told me that the only difference between bravery and stupidity is knowing the foolishness of your actions." Sasuke looked up into the red eyes of the fox and gave him a small smile. It felt like it had been a long time since the two of them had been able to have intellectual conversations…he missed them, if truth be told.

The fox was quiet for a moment then nodded his head slowly. "**Indeed. That is a phrase my father taught me. Alright young Uchiha…I believe you. Now, if you have promised to protect my carrier before, you are still held to that promise. I know of your actions earlier but if you die in trying to protect Naruto you are useless.**" He knew Kyuubi well enough to know that he wasn't serious in his insults…and besides, he was right. If he died trying to protect Narutowho would protect him the next time? Sakura? "**For now, Naruto is unaware of our conversation. In return for not telling him you are going to tell me everything about the future you came from.**"

Sasuke nodded; he wasn't ready for Naruto to know that he came from the future and took over his younger selfs body. "Well…during the Chunnin Exams, a ninja named Orochimaru cursed me." He began at the beginning of his path to hell. After all, he'd walked it once, he was going to need help to keep him from getting put in that position again.

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A week and a half later

Sasuke watched Sakura and Naruto argue about the food they placed on Haku and Zabuza's graves. Suddenly Naruto swung away from the graves to look at their sensei. Sasuke remembered this conversation and knew that this was one of the turning points in their lives.

"Is what they said true?" Sakura asked leaning down to peer closely at the graves, her face a study in confusion. "Were those two correct about ninjas?"

Kakashi was quiet for a moment then nodded his eye studying them closely. "A ninja isn't supposed to pursue his own goals, becoming the countries tool is the most important. It's true even for the Leaf Village."

Naruto snorted and his face contorted into a sneer. It was such a Sasuke look that Sasuke had to hold back a snicker. "Is that what it really means to be a true ninja? You know what?" He crossed his arms and Sasuke had to bring a hand up to hide the smile. He didn't know if Naruto watched him often or if it was unconscious but his movements and positions at the moment were very similar to Sasukes: it was…kinda of cute. "I don't like it."

Sasuke peered over at Sakura who seemed to agree with Naruto though she said nothing. "You believe that too?" He asked Kakashi remembering his own curiosity at the time. He'd learned a few years before Kakashi died about his two closest friends and his father. It was a fine line to walk, being a ninja: you protected those you loved against murderers but in times of war you became a murderer yourself.

_A silent scream. "Why nii-san?"_

"Well…each and every ninja has to live while dealing with that issue. Just like Zabuza…and that boy." Kakashi's voice was low at the end and Sasuke closed his eyes as memories fought to come to the surface of his mind.

_Not right now! _He begged his own mind trying to piece together some semblance of calm in front of his team.

"Okay! I've decided! I'm going to be a ninja in my own way." Naruto declared and Sasuke opened his eyes to see that bright determined look on his face that he had seen so many times before. _And you succeeded. _

The next few hours they said good bye to the bridge builder and his family and began the trek home. When they stopped for the night Sasuke snuck from the campsite and up a tree not too far away to let the memories come crashing over him.

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Flashback of doom

_His hands were shaking, his eyes were wide with shock and horror. The voice that sounded in his head wasn't his own but it spoke the painful truth._

"_**He is dead Sasuke. You need to go before Orochimaru discovers what you have done.**_" _Kyuubi's voice told him, even the foxes voice was soft with pain. He knew what Naruto would feel when he learned…_

_Learned that Kakashi was dead._

_It had been a simple walk for Sasuke, he was bored with Orochimaru and so took himself off for days on end just simply walking. He heard the sound of fighting and a familiar chakra signature to one direction and slowly began to move closer. He had just reached the edge of the clearing when the blade had slashed into Kakashi._

_He stared in shock at the blade sticking from Kakashi's back. It had pierced straight through his chest and he knew that not even Kakashi, the Copy Ninja of Konoha, could survive such a blow. His eyes traveled to the ninja who had dealt the blow and knew that it was one of Orochimaru's generals. _

"_Oh! Sasuke-sama!" The ninja bowed. "Orochimaru-sama didn't have to send you to assist me. My genjutsu is good enough to trick the sharingan in its incomplete form." He pulled the blade from Kakashi's still chest and moved forward towards Sasuke relaxed and calm. "I disguised myself as that pink haired brat he travels with and killed him when he was off guard."_

_Sasuke felt his body shaking with horror and pulled back his hand reflexively and drove a Chidori straight through the stupid ninja's heart. "How dare you?" Sasuke growled._

_The man had killed Kakashi-sensei, he'd killed the only father figure he'd ever had, no matter how unwanted. The man's eyes began to roll back in his head but he managed to say the one word that sent Sasuke's barely content world crashing down around him. "…orders."_

_Sasuke let the man fall from his arm and moved to lean over Kakashi's still form. _

"_**Go kit. Go heal and get far away from here. Naruto and the others are coming. They will take care of him now.**__" Kyuubi told him and mentally pushed him further away from the clearing. "__**He's dead Sasuke and you avenged him. It is the way of humans.**__"_

"_I don't like it." Sasuke murmured and turned and ran. "I don't like it one bit."_

_A desperate promise, "I won't let Orochimaru get Konoha!"_

_**End of flashback of doom**_

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"Sasuke? Are you alright?" A small voice came from close by. Sasuke opened his eyes to see Sakura standing on the ground beneath his tree.

He jumped down and landed softly beside her. "Yeah…I'm alright." He answered fighting to urge to wrap her in his arms and keep her safe from everything he knew would happen.

She smiled at him and twisted a finger in her hair. "You know Sasuke, you did wonderful on the bridge back there. I was amazed at your skills!" She gushed. The urge to hug her was squashed beneath annoyance.

"Sakura." He said her name calmly and took her hands in his so she would focus on him. "I am going to be painfully blunt right now." He started, he saw her flinch and vaguely remembered saying something mean to her once but pushed aside the pity for his own sanity. "I am proud of your protection and diligence on the bridge. However," He started before she could squeal as he saw she was about to, "I would like you to stop obsessing and fan-girling over me. It is annoying and you will never be able to grow as a ninja if you always rely on me to protect you."

Sakura was quiet long enough that Sasuke feared he'd hurt her more than he had intended but he wanted her to get over the fan-girl attitude sooner than later. He didn't know if she loved him or had a mere crush but he wasn't going to let her dig herself into the useless hole she'd lived in for a number of years in his future.

She nodded slowly. "Alright Sasuke. But…I'm going to work hard so that I can show you I'm not just a fan-girl. And you won't have to protect me ever again." She took her hands from his and started to walk away. She was almost out of sight when she stopped and looked back over her shoulder. "Thanks Sasuke." Then she was gone, back to the campsite and her bedroll.

Sasuke sighed. He needed to help make Sakura and Naruto stronger. Maybe…maybe he would tell them the truth.

Would they believe him?

_A sharp laugh. "The impossible is only for those who don't try."_

_**

* * *

**_

Alright Chapter three is done! Review. My -sama and lord shit will bounce around, I'm not consistent with suffixes sorry!

**Again, five reviews. But I am going on vacation soon so the update will have to wait until I get back regardless.**


	4. A Secret Told

_**I am sorry this took so long! My muse is not around and I have no means of communication for a few weeks but I got a letter! And it make me want to write. So this was what I updated. **_

_**Sasuke is a bit...well angsty but that isn't unusual. It might be a tad unorganized but I plan to re-read it (at not 2:30am) and see if I can fix it but I wanted to post it as soon as I was done. **_

* * *

_A sultry laugh  
A tear-filled glance  
A hateful snarl  
Blue eyes never flinching_

* * *

Sasuke was happy to be home though he knew that it wouldn't be long before things began to heat up. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply of the smells of the Leaf from his childhood. It was something he'd missed more than anything. When he'd left the Village in his youth he'd gotten used to the smell of everyday life there; the perfumes the women wore, the scentless soaps of the ninja's, the smell of the restaurants and shops.

In the Sound it had been blood, sweat, and smoke. No variation to the smells of death and destruction.

Sasuke felt Naruto come up behind him and smirked back over his shoulder. "Race you to Ichirakus. Who ever loses has to pay!" Sasuke darted off down the street with Naruto close behind him. The last few days Sasuke had been approaching Naruto more and more often to discuss Jutsu's with him. He started out saying that he wanted Naruto to help him figure out old family jutsu's but quickly he realized he didn't need a reason. Naruto liked to learn for the sake of learning.

It was something Sasuke had admired even back in their competitive days.

Sakura, though sometimes invited, refused to ever join them in practicing. She would go off with Kakashi or by herself to think of styles she could use.

When Sasuke slid to a stop in front of Ichiraku's he found himself staring in shock at the woman leaning against the counter. _Anko…_his eyes met her own curious ones and she gave him a devious smirk and chuckled. "What are you staring at kid?"

_A sultry laugh. "You have no idea how stupid you look right now."_

He felt his heart race and before he could open his mouth Naruto crashed into him. The woman began to laugh louder and came over to help the two of them to their feet. While Anko was known as one of the scariest and violent female ninja in the village, she could appreciate other's clumsiness. "You two just got back from the mission in the Land of Waves didn't you?" She patted Sasuke's back a bit hard and gave him a grin. "Heard you guys met the Demon? Man that guy makes me feel like a housewife!"

Naruto nodded and gave his trademark smile. "He and his friend were really tough but in the end, they really weren't all that bad."

Anko stared at him, her eyebrows raised in disbelief. "Not that bad?"

Naruto nodded and grinned when the owner of the Ramen shop handed him his food without Naruto having to say anything. Sasuke shook his head silently, it just showed how often Naruto came here. "Chicken." He said quietly to the waitress while Naruto regaled Anko with tales of their mission.

He let Naruto talk and concentrated on Anko. In the past, when he'd first run into the woman during the Chunnin exam's he'd rightfully been afraid of her. She was…well she was a _bitch _when you pissed her off. And something of a sadist. He remembered her face when she'd discovered he'd been cursed: it was full of pity, rage, and shame. She'd felt like she'd failed _him, _she'd never met him before but because Orochimaru had been able to curse him when she was around, she felt personally responsible. Once she'd come after him, just her to tell him how dangerous and evil Orochimaru was. He'd fallen half in love with her then, her eyes were blazing and her hands shaking with rage as she tried to convince him to leave Orochimaru. When he'd told her he still had things to do, she'd looked at him, and understood as only another victim of Orochimaru could, that he wanted to kill Orochimaru…from the inside. She'd come to him, all violence leaving her, no longer a ninja, but a woman and kissed his cheek gently in goodbye.

His heart constricted at the memory. It was the last time he'd seen her alive.

"Anko…" He murmured beneath his breath. He didn't look up though he could feel her eyes on him. "I would like to ask you something later." He told her just as quietly. He could hear Naruto talking on the other side of Anko and paid for his and Naruto's food though he knew it should have been Naruto paying. He pushed his uneaten food toward Naruto and left the stand before Naruto could question him.

He walked without aim though his feet seemed to know where to go. For a few brief seconds he saw not the thriving village that was around him but the burning husk he had run though only weeks ago in his own memory. He began to run, anxious to stand above the village and prove to himself that it wasn't destroyed, to erase the death and blood from his memory. He'd _never _felt this weak before, this desperate, even in the moments after his world had collapsed, the shock must have finally worn off.

_A tear-filled gaze. "Sometimes…we hide so much from others, that we hide things from ourselves as well."_

Sasuke finally stopped at the top of the Hokage mountain. He could see the happy and prosperous village below him and within moments felt two distinct chakra signatures coming towards him. Kakashi and Anko. _Good…I need to lay all the cards on the table. _

* * *

Kakashi seemed to be surprised to see Sasuke looking so calm and speaking quietly with Anko on the edge of the cliff but when Sasuke looked up he had already covered his surprise. "I needed to speak with the two of you." Sasuke's voice was quiet.

"I don't understand Sasuke." Kakashi replied in his innocent voice. "What could you possibly want to say to Anko and myself?"

Anko growled and reached for her weapons pouch, her temper flaring. "Are you saying I am unimportant Kakashi?"

He backed up a few feet. "NO! Of course not Anko! I was just curious as to why the _two _of us specifically. If I am correct, you'd never met him before."

Anko took a calming breath and sat sharply, her trench coat fluttering out around her and she pulled Sasuke to sit beside her. "True enough Kakashi." She turned to face Sasuke and he held his breath at the familiar fire in her eyes. "Now what do you want brat?"

Sasuke felt a smile tug at his lips. "You are going to have a hard time believing me." He warned.

Anko raised her eye brow and leaned down to rest her chin in her palm bringing her face even to Sasukes. "Try me."

Sasuke let the famous Uchiha smirk cross his lips and began to tell his tale much the same way that he'd told Kyuubi.

_A hateful snarl, "You never earned anything you got!"_

Over an hour later Kakashi and Anko were staring at Sasuke with varying degrees of disbelief and shock. "That can't be true." Anko finally snapped, her eyes had long ago lost their teasing warmth and now only held fury.

"I assure you that it is. How else would I know of the Snake Sannin and his ties to you? How would I know about Kakashi's Chidori?" Sasuke asked feeling the beginnings of anger that they didn't believe him. "Kakashi, how would I have been able to teach Naruto water-walking, weapon summoning, and those other things? You've never seen me do them before now." He argued.

"Good research." Kakashi replied his voice frosty.

Sasuke looked to Anko ignoring the pain in his chest at Kakashi's distrust of him. "I can prove it. I can remove the curse mark, or at least tell you how. I might not have proper chakra levels in this body."

Anko was quiet for a long time. Sasuke had decided it might have been a mistake to tell Kakashi the truth but it was Anko that he needed. _She _knew Orochimaru as well if not better than he did. _She _was the only one would could stand any chance of helping Sasuke destroy Orochimaru and remove the curse if he happened to have the bad luck of getting cursed again. He met her eyes and tried to show her how sincere he was.

"Kakashi…did you tell your students that the Chunnin exams were starting in a few days?" Anko asked never taking her eyes from Sasuke's. Kakashi was a long time in answering but finally denied it. "You say Orochimaru and his…minions are the Sound ninja? And he has a plot to take down Konoha?"

Sasuke nodded relieved that she was listening to him. "Yes! He and two of his closer minions, are going to take the bodies of ninja's from another village and get into the exams that way. He wants my eyes but he also wants to destroy the Third and the whole village."

"I'll believe you…for now. But if you are lying…I will put you in the dungeon myself." She disappeared a moment later and Kakashi followed without ever looking at Sasuke.

_Blue eyes never flinching. "I always believed in you."_

"Sasuke?" A voice came from behind him.

Sasuke spun and stared in shock as Naruto came from the woods his face full of confusion. "Kyuubi told me that I needed to talk to you." He started awkwardly and came closer seemingly afraid that he would cause Sasuke to dart off as well. "I heard most of everything and I had one question."

Sasuke looked out over the village and felt his heart clench in pain at the thought that Naruto would think he was a liar as well. All he wanted to do was protect Naruto, his best friend, and his village and right the wrongs he had made in another life.

"Can you help me learn enough to protect _you_?"

* * *

**_Review! _**

**_No there is no Anko/Sasuke pairing, it is going to develop into a sisterly loving relationship and more stuff will be revealed in regards to her but I like the psycho :) _**

**_I like cliffies. 5 reviews or I won't even start the next chapter._**

**_No this will NOT be a Super-Powered fanfic. Most likely the third will still die but that isn't sure yet and Sasuke and Naruto aren't going to kill everyone easily. that would just be stupid, where's the plot if life is too easy?_**

**_Anyway review and let me know how it was. _**

**_VOTE_**


	5. Moving and Warnings Recieved

**_Okay first off there is A LOT of OC of Sasuke in this. My justisification is that Sasuke grew up a bit, mentally he's 19! He's going to be very different with Naruto but very canon to everyone else. Please be understanding to that and don't bitch cause Sasuke is cool..._**

**_Also! If you like Gaara/Naruto go read "Your Call" my one shot of the two of them for Dreaming-Of-A-Nightmare (who writes fabulous Naru/Gaara stories)._**

* * *

_A desperate hug_  
_a gentle touch_  
_a bittersweet smile_  
_a devious grin_  
_a crazy look_

* * *

_A desperate hug, "It's been so long."_

"Protect me?" Sasuke repeated his eyes searching his friends face.

Naruto nodded looking away, out over the village. "I'm not good with words Sasuke, but I'll…I'll try to explain." His cheeks blushed lightly to Sasuke's amazement before he looked back at him. "I've always wanted to protect you. Back when…when you first lost your family. A part of me was happy." Sasuke's eyes widened in shock; _Naruto was happy I was orphaned? _"Not because you were alone!" Naruto clarified holding up his hands. "But because I'd always felt like it was so unfair how you were treated. In a way I felt it was worse than I was treated." He blushed again, this time in shame and looked away. "So I've been pushing myself to get stronger and letting our rivalry grow to help you as much as I could."

Sasuke looked at the awkward boy in front of him and felt a warmth settle deep in his chest. It made sense, in a childish way, that Naruto would push his buttons while the rest of the world had walked on eggshells around him. Without thinking he moved to Naruto and wrapped his arms around the other boys neck burying his face between Naruto's throat and shoulder holding back the tears that threatened to fall. "Idiot."

Naruto stiffened beneath his arms briefly then relaxed and placed his own arms around Sasuke. "Bastard." His voice was rough but his arms were warm. After a moment Sasuke pulled away and stared up into Naruto's determined face. "I'm moving in with you. We need all the time to train that we can get." He grabbed Sasuke's hand and began to drag him along. "Let's go pack my things."

Sasuke chuckled. "Who said I will let you move in with me?" He felt a flash of guilt when Naruto glanced back at him surprised and hurt but quickly Naruto seemed to catch on that it was a joke.

"I can't protect you so far away." Naruto replied grinning. "So you have no choice."

Sasuke grinned back as he was led from the mountain top. _This was the Naruto he knew._

* * *

_A gentle touch, "I wish we'd never fought."_

They were packing up the last of Naruto's things when Naruto looked up. "Hey Sasuke?"

Sasuke glanced at the boy a roll of tape in his mouth. "Hmm?" He asked when Naruto didn't continue.

"Did I…?" Naruto stopped looking thoughtful then nodded and closed his box decisively. "Never mind."

"What is it Naruto?" Sasuke asked finishing the sealing of the box he had.

"Nothing. I was going to ask about me in the future but I changed my mind." Naruto grinned looking up. "Kyuubi made a remark that made me decide I don't want to know." He lifted the last of the boxes besides the one Sasuke was holding and headed down to the cart they had gotten from the landlord to move.

It had been the first time in this past that Sasuke had seen the treatment Naruto got. When the owner of the building was told that Naruto was moving out he was so overjoyed that he decided to lend Naruto a cart for his belongings to help him get out faster.

Sasuke closed his eyes and searched for the fox. 'Kyuubi? What did you tell him?' He asked politely.

For a moment he though the fox wasn't going to answer him then he heard; "**I told him that if he found out how he was in the future, he might limit how far he can go now.**"

Sasuke nodded in agreement and carried the last box downstairs to find Kakashi talking to Naruto. Kakashi broke off when Sasuke came outside and handed Naruto the keys to his room. "Go make sure we got everything, then we can go."

Naruto hesitated then glared at Kakashi and darted inside.

"The Third wants to see you." Kakashi told him quietly. "I decided he needed to know about the threat you told Anko and I about."

"So you believe me?" Sasuke asked tying down the boxes and trying not to let Kakashi know how hurt he was. The man had been a father to him, and he'd lied to himself telling himself that this early Kakashi trusted him that much.

"It's an incredible story." Kakashi's voice was quiet still and a bit hesitant. "But…you've never been a liar Sasuke and I know the fox is a strong demon. If he hadn't been involved…I wouldn't think it possible."

Naruto came outside just then scowling at the happy laughter behind him Sasuke felt his blood boiling and headed inside to deal with the manager. Naruto grabbed his arm and shook his head. "It's not worth it."

_A bittersweet smile, "You get used to it, the pain, the fear. It's just sad one has to."_

Sasuke looked at Naruto and back at the building then gently pulled his arm away from Naruto. "It is to me." He moved into the office and shut the door before turning and giving the owner a Sharingan glare. The man stopped laughing with a squeak and Sasuke approached and leaned close. "If I hear you abused, overcharged, or stole from Naruto…I'll make you regret you decided to open this place." The owner nodded his skin shining with sweat. Sasuke left without another word and ignored the looks he was getting: one confused though grateful, the other thoughtful. Grabbing on of the handles to the car he glanced at Naruto. "Let's go."

* * *

Naruto looked around the room Sasuke had given him. It was right next to his own and right across from the bathroom. "This is great!" He grinned seeing all the space he had. The room was larger than his apartment had been; he had a large bed under the window, a desk with scrolls, pens and inks ready for his use, bookshelves around the room were bare for his convenience, all surrounding a 7 by 7 blank space in the center of the room.

Sasuke nodded placing the last box down and stretching. "Do you want to unpack or grab some food? The kitchen is stocked." He glanced at the setting sun outside the window. "Or you could just go to bed. We did get back from the mission this morning." He sighed thinking about how much had happened in those few short hours of the day.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Don't be stupid. I'm going with you to see the Third."

Sasuke blinked in surprise. "What?" He'd been summoned and he told Kakashi that after he'd dropped Naruto off at his home he'd meet him in the Hokage's office but he hadn't expected Naruto to go. He wasn't sure _why _it had surprised him, he concluded as the two of them started for the hokage's office.

When they entered Anko was leaning against the window frame and Kakashi against the Hokage's desk where an old man sat. He and Naruto bowed then waited for the Hokage to say something.

"Sasuke I want you to tell me the story you told Anko and Kakashi. Naruto you can leave." The Third demanded leaning back.

"I'm not going to leave Sasuke here, old man. Besides, I heard it too." Naruto declared crossing his arms.

"How many people have you told Sasuke?" The Third asked slightly alarmed.

"Only three sir. Though Naruto heard me telling Anko and Kakashi." Sasuke responded.

"You were there?" Kakashi asked shocked. He hadn't felt the boys presence at all.

Naruto smiled mischievously but was prevented from responding by the Third.

_A devious grin. "Why do you think the Jounin hated me? They could never find me after my pranks."_

"Who was the third person you told?" He asked.

Here Sasuke hesitated his eyes drifting to Naruto. He took a deep breath at the flash of red though Naruto's eyes and looked back at the Hokage.

"Kyuubi. He asked why I felt like his power."

Silence greeted his answer before Naruto spoke up. "Kyuubi wants to know why you aren't acting on Sasuke's warning. He asks if you've gone soft while he's been away."

Sasuke stared at Naruto in astonishment. He'd just set himself up for trouble to keep Sasuke from taking the whole brunt of the attack. "Naruto…" He murmured. A blue eye flicked to him and winked.

"You talk to Kyuubi?" The Third asked. "Since when?"

"Our mission. I tapped into his power and since then if he has something to say, he says it." Naruto grinned. "He's very sarcastic most of the time."

The Third sighed. "I don't doubt that. Is he a threat to you or this village?"

Naruto shook his head. "He says the seal keeps him tight. There were a lot of nasty words involved in that too." His cheeks turned slightly red with embarrassment.

"Alright Naruto." The Hokage said deciding Kyuubi's verbal tendencies were unimportant. If Naruto said that Kyuubi was safe, he was safe.

Sasuke took a deep breath and began. In the telling he knew he sounded like the 19 year old he mentally was rather than the 12 year old body he was in. By the time he finished Anko was glaring at the wall.

"I believe the brat! Orochimaru is exactly like that. Let me up the guards." She demanded desperately.

The Third nodded. "I'll send a runner to that ninja, you said his name was Baki? The Sand Genin's sensei and inform him of the deception."

Sasuke thought hard for a second then nodded. "But tell him to continue as if he didn't know. At the last second to join us instead of Orochimaru. And have his team come. Gaara needs to meet Naruto."

"Gaara?" Kakashi asked, wondering why the name was familiar.

"The Sand's Jinchuriki."

_A crazy look. "I was born to kill."_

Naruto jumped slightly and looked at Sasuke. "He's like me?"

Sasuke shook his head. He'd tell Naruto about Gaara later.

"Alright. You are all dismissed. Anko you and Ibiki report to me in the morning." The Third said and waved them off. He turned to Sasuke. "You are to repeat this to no one else, tell no one of the attack and of coming back into the past. Any other threats you remember come to me directly."

Sasuke bowed and then he and Naruto started for the door. "Can I ask a favor?" He paused at the doorway and looked back.

The Third met his eyes and sighed. "I will summon him home."

Sasuke felt a relieved joy fill him and he bowed low. "Thank you Hokage!" He pulled Naruto after him and started back to their house.

"Who is he summoning?" Naruto asked making him slow to a walk.

"My brother." Sasuke replied.

"What! Why?" Naruto yelled stopping in the middle of the street.

"I'll tell you when we get to the house." Sasuke murmured glancing around at the night darkened streets.

Naruto grumbled but continued on his way. "Can we eat when we get back?"

Sasuke laughed and slung his arm over Naruto's shoulder. "Sure."

"It's creepy for you to be so open." Naruto muttered.

"Sorry." Sasuke said starting to remove his arm but Naruto stopped him by grabbing the hand slung over his shoulder.

Naruto had a light blush on his face. "I didn't say I didn't like it. It's a new change…but I like it."

"I'll only be this way for you Naruto." Sasuke murmured tilting his head back to gaze at the stars comfortable with the closeness he was able to enjoy with Naruto. He'd missed the chance before and he didn't want to let it get by him again.

"Good." Naruto muttered almost too quiet for Sasuke to hear. Then louder, "That's probably safer, how would your fan club react to a smiling hugging Sasuke?"

A look of utter horror flashed across his face and sent Naruto into peals of laughter. He continued to laugh as Sasuke scowled as they finally reach the house, their home.

* * *

**_Anyway review! Sakura will be coming back next chapter. She is going to still be a bit fan-girlish but not as much as she was. Just be ready and please review!_**


	6. Bad Dreams and Strength

**Chapter 6!!! I hope you enjoy!!**

* * *

A silent plea  
A groan of pain  
A fearless growl  
A heartbroken scream

* * *

Sasuke sat up abruptly drenched in sweat and gasping for breath. For a moment everything was in sharp relief around him as the Sharingan whirled in response to the dream. He groaned and brought a hand to his head to brush the sweat soaked hair off his forehead.

It had been years since his last nightmare. Once upon a time he'd had them nightly, dreams about Itachi killing his family, then when he discovered the truth…well the dreams lost their true meaning and they stopped.

He closed his eyes and tried to forget the images of blood and fire; Naruto and Sakura dead at his feet. He let out a shuddering breath and climbed from his bed to stumble to the bathroom and fling cold water into his face. It was still very late, he'd probably only been asleep for two hours or so before he'd been ripped into the waking world. Later today they had a meeting to discuss the 'information about a plot' with all the Rookie 9 and Team Gai in preparation for the exams next week.

He peered into the mirror and in the eyes of his younger self he could see the horror of years that wouldn't come.

_A silent plea in blue and green eyes…'come home'_

He shook the images out of his head and started back to his room. He paused outside of Naruto's door and pushed it open to glance in at his new housemate. The room was dark except for the shaft of light that came in behind Sasuke. By chance it fell directly on Naruto's slumbering face. Sasuke moved into the room and sat on the floor in front of Naruto and contemplated his soft youthful features.

It's hard to see that this young boy is one of the most determined, powerful and honorable ninja's alive. His father, Minato, had once been called the 'Yellow Flash' for his speed. Well…it is no surprise that Naruto becomes 'Flame of Konoha'. _I won't tell him that though…let him work for it._ Sasuke chuckled softly and glanced back at Naruto. It took him a long time to figure out why Naruto tried so hard to bring him home. He tried for years and years and by the time Sasuke had discovered he needed to go home; he had no idea how to go back.

"Sasuke?" Naruto's voice was deep with sleep and caused Sasuke to jump. "What's up? What are you doing in here?"

Sasuke looked away and coughed embarrassed. How must it have looked for Naruto to wake up to see Sasuke staring at him? "Sorry Naruto. I couldn't sleep."

Naruto yawned and stretched. "So why did you come in here?" Sasuke shrugged unable to express what he himself was unsure of. Naruto chuckled quietly and slid further away from the edge of the bed. "Want to crawl in?"

Sasuke's eyes widened before he put on his usual scowl. "Excuse me?"

Naruto's smile faded and he turned a pink color. "Kyuubi said that when a fox is upset they cuddle with other members of their set, their pack. I was just thinking you could sleep with me and maybe…I don't know it'd make you feel better." He scratched the back of his head and Sasuke could bet he was cursing the fox for making the suggestion inside his head.

For a few moments Sasuke couldn't think of how to reply then got up and crawled into the space left by Naruto. His eyes studied Naruto's face for a moment then he closed them. "Go to bed dobe."

Naruto laughed softly then got himself comfortable beside his best friend. After a few minutes of silence he called out Sasuke's name. When he heard Sasuke's 'hn' he asked the question that was burning in his mind. "What woke you up?"

Sasuke opened his eyes slowly to see Naruto staring at him sleepily. The face changed into a vision of Naruto in the future, dead and pale, before Sasuke blinked it back to normal.

_A groan of pain. "Damn it."_

"I had a bad dream. A bad memory." Sasuke replied quietly.

Naruto said nothing back. Instead he hesitantly lifted his arm and laid it over Sasuke's waist. "I'm sorry." He was definitely sincere and Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat at the unusual touch and warmth spread through his chest.

"Just go to bed." Sasuke muttered under his breath closing his eyes. He could feel Naruto relax at his usual prickliness, maybe he'd expected Sasuke to yell at him or something. A few minutes later he felt Naruto relax completely into sleep but it was a long time before he was able to fall asleep himself, however, there was a definite calmness that wasn't there before he had joined Naruto.

* * *

When Sasuke and Naruto finally reached the meeting room the next morning they were actually the last ones there. Sasuke was to tell no one else about the fact that he'd come back from the future to fix things. Instead the story was that the Sand Ninja's had decided to tell on the plot against them.

"Naruto, Sasuke, please join your team." The Hokage said nodding in the direction of Kakashi and Sakura.

It had been a few days since they had returned to the village and Sakura had been scarce. According to Kakashi, she'd gone to talk to other female ninja's to ask for advice on training.

"Hi Sasuke! Hi Naruto!" She whispered to them as they took their seats beside her.

"Hey Sakura!" Naruto whispered back giving her his usual bright smile. "How have you been?"

"Good." She answered and gave him a small smile.

Sasuke was amazed. Usually Sakura would snap at Naruto. She was apparently determined to show him she wasn't obsessing by treating Naruto like he was an equal and not less than Sasuke. He turned to face the Hokage however when he stood up.

"I have heard from all of your sensei's that you are going to be entering yourselves in the Chuunin Exams." There were a few murmurs from Team Gai at the amount of Rookies in the room but silence was quick to return. "I am immensely proud of you all for taking this attempt. However, because of recent events I feel I must warn you about the express dangers of this years exam."

Gai jumped to his feet. "My youthful team is able to overcome any challenge!!" He wore the same obnoxious green suit as his student Lee, same black bowl cut hair, same bushy eyebrows. They were clones!

"What is this danger Hokage?" Kurenai asked leaning around Hinata to look at the Hokage. Her red eyes were gentle as she looked at the old man, her hand resting gently on the soft-hearted Hyuuga.

"The Sand Genin's Sensei has informed us that a new village, the village of the Sound is plotting against us. He has come forward with this information and agreed to help us turn the tides on our attackers." The Hokage stood. "I'm not asking you to join in the battle when it begins, after all you are still children and we want you safe."

"Screw safe." Was Kiba's blunt announcement. His face was set in a determined scowl and the red lines down his cheeks gave Sasuke a shock. To him it had been years since Kiba had gotten scars along one cheek that mangled the straight lines.

_A fearless growl, "We can defeat anyone!"_

The rest of the Rookie 9 and Team Gai cheered as well. The Hokage hid a grin from the enthusiastic greeting to his news. "Alright. Then get ready. The tests are in four days. Train hard, and when you meet the other teams. Say nothing."

They all agreed and after a bit more discussions, were dismissed. Sasuke found himself and Naruto with Sakura and Kakashi at their usual training ground not much later. He paused for a moment to look around, though he'd swung by once the other day, it was the first time he'd been in the grounds since he came back.

It brought back hundreds, thousands of memories. Some good, some bad, but most of them revolving around the three other people here with him. "Sasuke?" Naruto called him softly. He turned to look at the blond boy and met his smile with a softer look. "Everything is going to be fine." Naruto's voice was determined, unable to be argued with.

"I know." He replied and looked towards Kakashi. "So what training should we do?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Well…I figure work on the things you know, try to double the strengths by the end of the day. If you can do that I'll teach more things tomorrow. Bye." He disappeared and Sakura growled.

"He is only saying that 'cause he has no idea what to teach us."

Naruto laughed and shrugged. "Well he did only learn about the threat today. He probably needs time to think." He was doing much better than the old Sasuke would have thought in keeping Sakura from finding out that he and Sasuke and Kakashi already knew of the threat.

Sasuke looked towards the three logs in the middle of the clearing and frowned. "Teamwork. Let's work on teamwork."

_A heartbroken scream, "Why are you leaving!?"_

Sasuke felt Naruto run his fingers on the back of his hand and looked down. How was it that every time he began to be upset…Naruto seemed to notice? Was he always this observant of Sasuke? Sasuke paused to think and remembered Naruto's words describing how he'd felt about Sasuke's familys treatment of him. Yeah…he always was.

Sakura stepped up and touched Sasuke's other hand gently, bringing his attention to her. "I won't be useless." Her eyes were determined and her head held high. "Why don't we go see if any of the other teams wants to work on sparring?"

Sasuke felt a small smile tug at his lips. "Good idea." He crossed his arms and looked away at the trees thinking. "Which team though?"

Sakura shrugged. "Why not Team Gai? They are older, more advanced than us. It will give us a good chance to see what we could be up against with older teams."

Naruto smiled and clasped her shoulder. "I like the way you think! Do you know where they are?"

Sakura nodded and darted off to find the other team. Naruto waited until she was out of sight before turning back to face Sasuke. "When we get home, we are going to start our own training."

Sasuke nodded. "It won't be easy." He warned but the determined look in the other boys eyes made him realize that a difficult training, a hard way to get stronger, was what Naruto was looking for. It was the difference that had taken Sasuke years to see before. He'd wanted to learn quickly, learn easily, how to defeat his brother while Naruto took the harder path that made his attacks so much more devastating when they finally were perfected.

Sasuke felt that warmth inside his chest again when Naruto's face lit up in a smile and he ruffled the blonde hair. "Idiot."

Naruto laughed and poked Sasuke in the stomach. "Don't start that or Sakura will be late to the sparring."

Sasuke felt a smile tug at his lips as he looked down at the blonde. He was taller than the boy, but he knew in a few years they'd be dead even, if not Sasuke as the shorter of the two. He'd been unable to watch Naruto grow into the man he'd been when he died before. This time he didn't intend to waste a moment of it.

"Hello youthful boys! I am Lee!" A shorter version of Gai called out as he entered the clearing. "These are my teammates Neji, and Tenten." Neji had long dark brown hair pulled back into a low ponytail and the lavender eyes of the Hyuuga clan. Tenten was tall and muscular with her own dark hair pulled into buns atop her head. "Your beautiful teammate Sakura has informed me that you are interested in sparring with us."

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the word beautiful and snuck a peek at Sasuke in curiosity. "Later." Sasuke muttered before nodding at Lee. "Yeah. We figure we could work on teamwork and you guys are older so…"

"Don't you mean better?" Neji asked his usual haughtiness in evidence.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in amusement. _You talk big, and you got very serious talent, but Naruto kicks your ass. _"We will see."

Lee grinned and struck a pose. "Then let us begin! Our team vs. yours in capture the flag!"

"What will be the flags?" Tenten asked quietly. Sasuke appreciated Tenten more than ever right then, if it'd been Ino in their group, he probably would have to deal with flirty looks all day.

Naruto looked around then at himself and took off his trademark orange jacket leaving him in a black t-shirt. "This can be our teams flag."

Tenten pulled off her bright pink vest and revealed a soft red sleeveless shirt. "My vest will work as ours too."

"Five minutes to hide it and discuss plans then the game begins." Neji decided. "Break." And with that the six of them darted off. Sasuke smirked as he and Naruto and Sakura fell into a rhythm together. _This time…I won't run away. _He snuck a look at Naruto. _This time you won't have to chase me._

* * *

**Well I hope the people who do read this enjoyed this chapter. It hasn't gotten a lot of attention so it's one of my less updated stories. Please review!**

**Chuunin Exams are beginning soon. Not next chapter but maybe the chapter after that. Please enjoy!!**

**Also:I am going to write a Inuyasha Christmas Carol if you read my Inuyasha stories or are interested in checking it out. So keep an eye out for it!**


	7. Teamwork and Beauty

_**Chapter 7 of Once and Again**_

**Teamwork and Beauty  
**

_

* * *

A blushing smile,  
A white eyed glare,  
A light laugh,  
A cherry red face,  
A perverted smirk.  
_

Once they had set their flag down and circled beneath the tree to discuss their battle options Naruto grinned at Sakura. "So…'beautiful teammate Sakura', huh?" He dodged the light hearted fist she directed at him and continued smiling. "What was that about?"

Sakura turned cherry red and glared at him. "I don't know. He took one look at me and professed his undying love. Sasuke…I have to admit, if that is what you've gone through this whole time…I am so sorry!" She bowed turning towards him now even more embarrassed.

_A blushing smile, "Morning Sasuke!"_

Sasuke chuckled. _Finally she gets it! _"It doesn't matter. Let's talk about the other team and how to get their flag. Any ideas?"

"First we should set up traps around the flag. Nothing too dangerous but enough that they will be slowed down until someone can get to them. Then we should have two people head to search out their flag and the third stand guard." Sakura suggested. "That way we cover everything."

"I agree with everything but one." Naruto murmured pulling out a few weapons to ready traps. When Sakura and Sasuke looked at him he shrugged. "I can use my shadow clones and they can help guard and help search. No one said we had to stay with three people."

Sasuke felt a touch of pride in both of them. They were both thinking, not just because it was what they were supposed to do, but because they knew they needed to. Sakura's plan covered all bases like she had said and Naruto was very fond of his shadow clone jutsu and had used it many times to help. He paused in thought at that. In his time line, Naruto used the shadow clone to defeat Neji. Did Neji know about his ability to make them by then?

He must have, Sasuke finally decided. It was the passing test every year. He mentally shrugged. It wasn't simply the clones that defeated Neji anyway. It was the way that Naruto perfectly executed his plan. "Sounds good to me. Who are the ones who are going to go search?" There was a pause and Sasuke could see Naruto vibrating with the desire to be one of the ones to search and had to hide his smile.

Sakura shrugged. "I can stay back. I can usually see through genjutsus and can use Naruto's clones to assist me if they get closer."

Sasuke nodded and he waited while Naruto made a half a dozen clones, three to stay with them and three to stay with Sakura. "Who do we think will be coming after our flag?"

"It is hard to say. Tenten was one of the ninja's I had sought out to train with, she specializes in weapons. She has hundreds on her at any time. Lee is all taijutsu, no gen or nin. Neji is more well rounded and he has a blood line trait. I don't know everything about it but I did hear that he could be able to see you though a tree." She shrugged when Naruto looked at her for more explanations.

Sasuke thought for a moment about whether he should reveal it and when he glanced at Naruto he saw Naruto shake his head softly. _Let us find out on our own. _He seemed to say with his eyes and Sasuke gave him a small smile. "I think Tenten is the most likely to stay behind. If you think she is best with weapons she'll be able to keep us away from the flag for a further distance than Lee or Neji."

Sakura nodded. "I think your right. However, I believe Neji is the next possible watcher since he can spot us very easily."

_A white eyed glare. "I can spot you anywhere you hide."_

Naruto jumped to his feet. "It doesn't matter. Let's go!" He held out one hand and waited expectantly for the others to throw their hands in as well. After a moment of staring cock-eyed at him he shrugged. "Fine you babies." He directed the three clones to follow all of Sakura's directions then darted off with his own three, Sasuke close on his tail.

Sasuke decided not to say anything to Naruto now about his decision not to know of Neji's talents and instead leapt to the trees to follow silently behind Naruto. He was out of the written script of his old life and felt a bit of a thrill in knowing he _could _change the past even if it was this little bit right now.

* * *

Half an hour later there was no progress in getting the flag from the other team but Naruto and Sasuke were now covered in bruises. Tenten was a force to be reckoned with they silently agreed. She stood ten feet in front of them holding scrolls of weapons ready to unleash them at any moment. Two feet behind her stood their flag and she was making it very hard for them to get to it.

Naruto suddenly flinched. "Sakura is being attacked. One of the clones was taken out." He murmured to Sasuke.

Sasuke paused in reaching for a shuriken of his own and nodded. "Want me to go after her?" He asked.

Naruto looked torn. A part of him wanted to get that flag, get past Tenten and prove himself. But another part wanted to be the hero of the day and save Sakura and their own flag. "I'll…I'll get the flag." He decided nodding his head determinedly.

Sasuke nodded and turned darting back to Sakura. The Naruto he had grown up with the first time would have gone after Sakura to look like a hero to her. He was showing Sasuke once again his determination to be better for the sake of hopefully helping Sasuke.

_A light laugh, "We're in this together right?"_

In that moment Sasuke knew that things would work out this time no matter how long it might take them to get there.

Sakura was actually doing fairly decently when Sasuke arrived and landed a kick to Lee's side sending him careening into Neji. He'd surprised them with his swift entrance and attack. "You alright Sakura?" He asked landing in a crouch to her side.

"Yeah. They concentrated on the Naruto's first." She answered taking the brief relief to breath steadily.

"Uchiha." Neji sneered getting to his feet. "It doesn't surprise me you want to play the hero."

Sasuke ignored the jibe instead concentrating on watching Lee who was clambering to his feet. Lee was the greater danger to him. Whereas he felt he could dodge Neji relatively easy after years of fighting him and learning his style, at this age, Lee was terrifyingly fast.

He ducked as Lee charged at him his hands automatically forming the signs to throw out fireballs making sure to hold back the strength. Lee and Neji had to dart further away and Sasuke peered up at Sakura where she knelt on a branch above them. Her hands were darting in signs as well. He darted to the side when he noticed the pattern just as the net she had laid in the ground swooped up managing to entangle Lee. Neji had managed to slip off the side and was crouched ready for an attack.

A cough behind them had everyone pause. They turned to see Kakashi standing to the side with his head tilted to the side. "What are you doing?"

Sakura looked from Lee wrapped up in a net to Sasuke and Neji in fighting positions to their sensei. "Training?"

_A cherry red face, "It's not like that pervert!"_

Kakashi studied them all before making a disbelieving sound. "Uh huh. And where might the other two be?"

"Right here." Naruto's voice said cheerily from behind them as he and Tenten wandered in with Gai on their heels. "The game was interrupted so we decided to just come back."

"Naruto was doing fairly well." Tenten informed them giving the younger boy a gentle smile.

Naruto grinned back at her and winced when his smile pulled a cut on his cheek. "Thanks. So why are you here sensei?" Naruto looked towards Kakashi a little coldly. Sasuke knew that Naruto was upset with Kakashi not believing him; it made his heart clench in joy to know Naruto was so protective.

"It's dinner time. I was going to take you to dinner then send you home for a good nights rest." Kakashi replied seriously.

Sakura gently let Lee to the ground then leapt down beside her teammates with Naruto's jacket in her hands. "Alright." She murmured quietly. Sasuke and Naruto looked towards each other then towards Kakashi and then waved goodbye to the others. Kakashi wanted to tell them something serious.

* * *

Once dinner was over Kakashi walked outside the restaurant and turned to look at his teammates. "Tomorrow we will begin very hard training. I will meet you at sunrise." He then disappeared and Sasuke was tempted to smack his hand onto his forehead for actually believing Kakashi wanted to talk to them. Naruto and he bade a quick goodbye to Sakura after that and headed towards their home.

_Their home._ Sasuke liked the sound of that. For so long it had been _his _home or _The Uchiha Compound_. He liked thinking of it as where Naruto and he lived together.

"So…like I was saying earlier: Lee called Sakura beautiful and professed his love for her? What's up with that?" Naruto asked laughing lightly.

Sasuke felt himself chuckling as well. "The first time Lee saw Sakura he fell madly in love with her. I don't think he ever stopped loving her." Sasuke winced at the memory that thought brought but pushed it aside as Naruto slung an arm over his shoulder.

"Did he steal her from you?" His voice was teasing and a smirk danced on his lips.

_A perverted smirk. "So what's it like having tons of girls after you?"_

"No offense to Sakura, but Lee can have her." Sasuke smirked back. Naruto laughed and Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat at the familiar beloved sound. _She's simply not who I want. _

Soon they stood in front of the doors to the compound and their eyes drifted over the closed gates. "One day…I want this place full of laughter." Sasuke told Naruto softly.

He felt Naruto hesitantly reach out and link hands with him. "I'll always be here to help you laugh Sasuke."

Sasuke flushed lightly and opened the door. "Come on dobe. Time to train."

* * *

Sasuke led Naruto out to one of the outer training fields in the Uchiha compound. "First thing we learn Naruto, is chakra control. I know I taught you some simple jutsu's while we were on our way here but I want to work on strengthening the control you have."

Naruto shrugged. "Alright. How do we do that Sasuke?" It went against Naruto's personality to take it slow but he wanted to improve, wanted to be the best, anything to help Sasuke.

Sasuke handed him a leaf. "First thing Itachi taught me. Make the leaf float with just the force of your chakra." He held his own leaf in one hand and tried to force the chakra in him up. It wobbled a bit then fell back into his own palm. "I need to get back to my level; it's harder in this body." He confessed frustrated. "But when you can have it float a few inches above your hand steadily, we can move on to something else." _Hopefully Itachi will be home by then. _He thought to himself.

Naruto nodded and began to concentrate on the leaf sitting innocently in his palm. "Let's get to work then."

* * *

**_Review!_**

**_Itachi will enter soon and the Exams are coming up!  
_**


	8. History Lesson

_**Chapter 8. Maybe long-awaited? LOL Enjoy.  
**

* * *

A soft sigh,  
A gentle caress,  
A laughing song,  
A forgotten smile._

* * *

The next morning Sasuke woke slowly, bit by bit, and the first thing that came into his awareness was that someone was in the bed next to him. This caused him to tense because as far as he remembered, he and Naruto had gone into their separate rooms last night.

He opened one eye slowly trying to make the other person unaware of his wakened state and focused on the sleeping whiskered face before him. Both eyes snapped open in confusion and he felt his forehead furrow. _Why…_

Naruto shifted and curled his legs more into his chest. The movement caused the light from the window to land more fully on his cheek and Sasuke saw the dried tear marks that made their way down his face. _Oh…_he thought relaxing. Naruto must have come in with a bad dream. Sasuke knew Naruto so well that he'd ignored Naruto's presence and continued to sleep while Naruto had probably suffered for a while awake and alone.

_A soft sigh, "Why do you always cry alone?"_

Sasuke reached out gently and wiped away the last of the tears on Naruto's face. Naruto's eyes fluttered and opened slowly and Sasuke frowned gently at him. "Why didn't you wake me idiot?"

Naruto let his eyes drift closed again and after a moment leapt from the bed and headed towards the door. "Don't be silly Sasuke. I had a bad dream that's all."

Sasuke watched him leave and said nothing in return. How do you tell a twelve year old who has been hiding his feelings for his whole life that suddenly it's okay to trust someone who up until a few days ago hadn't been the best? With a sigh he got up and quickly dressed before heading to the kitchen to make breakfast.

It was odd; being in the body of a twelve year old while his mind remembered aging so much longer. Things felt like they were further than they should be and the strong feelings he had as an adult, seemed overwhelming now. He wanted to help Naruto; he'd failed so miserably before, he had to make things right this time.

By the time he'd finished breakfast Naruto had walked in fresh from the shower and set the table quietly. "Naruto…" Sasuke started hesitantly setting the food between the two of them. "I know that it's not always easy to talk about things that bother you…" He paused and looked away from Naruto who was staring at him straight. "But if you ever do want to talk…I'm here for you."

Naruto set his fork down on the plate and frowned at Sasuke. "I know that Sasuke. Is something wrong?"

Sasuke felt a bit of annoyance slip into his mind and glanced back at Naruto. "You crept into my room. I just wanted you to know I was willing to listen to things you have to say."

Naruto suddenly grinned and scratched the back of his head. "I was serious though, Sasuke. It was only a bad dream."

Sasuke chuckled. "Then I guess I got worked up for nothing." He paused with food halfway to his mouth as a knock on the front door came and he frowned, turning towards it. "Who would come in without ringing the gate bell?" He mumbled, setting things back on his plate.

Naruto darted out of the kitchen a kunai in his hands. Sasuke poked his head out of the kitchen and raised his eyebrows at Naruto. "What do you think you're doing?"

Naruto didn't answer and yanked open the door. Naruto stepped back to let the Hokage in and slid the kunai back into his pouch. "What's up old man?"

The Third sighed and turned to Sasuke. "Kakashi went to talk to Sakura but I wanted to tell you guys." He shifted the pipe in his mouth and sighed again. It seemed to be all he was doing lately. "The Exams are going to be next week. The Sand's team will be here in a few days. How do you want me to deal with the Jinchuriki?"

"His name is Gaara." Sasuke frowned at the Third. "For now let him stay with his team. Later we may have him come here."

The Third nodded and glanced around. "Is there anything the two of you need? Do you feel safe here by yourselves?"

"We are fine Hokage." Sasuke assured him raising an eyebrow in inquiry. He glanced at Naruto and silently asked him a question with his eyes. _Does it seem like he's trying to figure out how to tell us something?_

Naruto nodded slightly and then crossed his arms. "What's the real reason you're here old man?"

The Third glanced down at Naruto and then turned to Sasuke. "I got a message from your brother."

_A gentle caress, "So you're my new brother…"_

"What does Aniki say?" Sasuke asked folding his hands tightly. He wanted his brother home. There was quite a bit of time and hatred that he had to make up for with Itachi and though he couldn't cure the disease that was killing his brother, he did know a way to slow it down.

"He will be here when he can. He has a few loose ends to tie up and then he'll be back." The Hokage clamped his teeth on the stem of his pipe and met Sasuke's eyes firmly. "You do realize that his presence here will be a secret from everyone but those _I _deem necessary? He won't be allowed to leave the compound."

Naruto snorted and wandered back into the kitchen as Sasuke's frown deepened. "Do you think I'm stupid Hokage?" He sighed and waved a hand to the scowling older man. "I'm sorry. I know to you I am still just a twelve year old but to me I'm twenty and I know what it is you are trying to tell me."

The Hokage adjusted his hat slightly as he studied Sasuke. "You're right. I am treating you like a child." He turned to leave but paused at the door. "How are things with you and Naruto?"

Sasuke studied the back of the old man as intently as he had been studied moments before. "Fine." The Hokage didn't move and Sasuke felt that he was waiting for something more. "Naruto is working hard training and he's good company." After that the Hokage nodded and disappeared out the door and Sasuke was left to wonder why the Hokage took such interest.

"Naruto?" Sasuke called out as he entered the kitchen to find it empty and Naruto's plate in the sink. "Where'd you go?"

"Outside!" Naruto's voice came from beyond the kitchen in the back yard and Sasuke poked his head out the door.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked watching Naruto's back. Naruto wasn't secretive, not especially, but he was independent. Sasuke bit back an amused groan at the thought that he'd probably have to follow Naruto around to know what he was up to. But then again, he let a tiny smile brush his lips briefly before Naruto turned, it might be fun watching Naruto try new things out.

Naruto showed the leaf in his hand. "Just working on my control." He concentrated and the leaf lifted slightly then settled. "I can get it up but I can't hold it up."

Sasuke nodded understandably. "Let me finish my breakfast and I'll come out and help."

Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Thanks Sasuke!"

That movement…was cute. Sasuke decided and turned before he blushed. _Now is definitely not the time for my hormones to kick in._ He shook his head and sat at the table.

_A laughing song, "I know something you don't know!"_

Naruto came into the kitchen silently and watched Sasuke eat. Sasuke knew he was there but didn't say anything. If Naruto wanted to talk, he would. Sasuke knew a lot about Naruto, whether he'd been aware of it or not, they had been best friends since the incident with Haku. Now he had a chance to act like the best friend he should have been before.

Did that mean he wouldn't be hard or tough on Naruto sometimes? No. Naruto needed him to push him, and he needed Naruto to push back. It was just the way the two of them were. Their rivalry was the thing that helped them improve. Sasuke might have knowledge of what he could do, what Naruto could do, but without striving, they wouldn't get there.

"Sasuke?" Naruto's voice brought Sasuke out from his internal musings. His voice was hesitant as if he was unsure of the reception to his question would be.

"Yeah?" He asked swallowing the last of his food and beginning to gather his dishes.

"You never did tell me…why you wanted Itachi back." Naruto's voice dropped as he finished his statement.

Sasuke paused, no he hadn't had he? With a calm look at Naruto he indicated that he wanted Naruto to sit. "What I tell you is secret Naruto. You can't repeat it even to Sakura or Kakashi."

"Kakashi doesn't know?" Naruto questioned moving to sit beside Sasuke.

"He might. I never asked." Sasuke shrugged his eyes on his folded hands. "I was told by one of…Itachi's current companions." Now really wasn't the time to discuss who Madara was. "When I was young, the Uchiha's were planning on assassinating the Hokage and taking over as the leaders of Konoha. They believed that they were the most powerful Clan and therefore should take precedence in all things relating to Konoha. The Third found this out, as did a few other members of the council who will probably try to kill Itachi and myself if they learn he is here and I know the truth," he added almost as a side note to his lecture. He shook his head and continued still not looking at Naruto. "The Third knew that Itachi was the best person for the job. He knew it would kill Itachi to do it, and that he would have to become a missing nin but he asked it. He asked it of his most loyal and trustworthy ninja. He asked Itachi to kill everyone in the Uchiha compound."

Naruto stared wide-eyed at Sasuke. "The old man ordered it?" He squeaked out shocked.

Sasuke nodded and found his gaze finally looking to Naruto. He wore an expression of astonishment and somewhere in there was growing anger. An anger at the old man; at Itachi; or at the whole Clan, Sasuke wasn't sure. But it was there. "Itachi begged him to let at least me live. And the Third agreed. But Itachi also asked I never find out how low my Clan had sunk. So I grew up thinking the Clan was right and Itachi was wrong. It wasn't until after…after I killed Itachi that I learned the truth."

Naruto was quiet for a long moment and then suddenly he leaned forward and rested his forehead on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke stared at the blond head on him in shock which only grew as he felt tears drip down his arm. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Sasuke asked gripping Naruto's shoulders and leaning him away to meet his eyes.

Naruto's eyes were wide with tears and glistening blue and a flush crossed the top of his cheeks. That was about the only attractive thing about his face at the moment. Snot seemed to want to come out of his nose and his mouth was twisted as he tried to hold back his sobs. "How must it have felt, finally reaching the goal you set to kill your brother, only to learn he wasn't the evil insane man you had been led to believe."

Sasuke felt his heart clench in pain, a pain he thought he'd left behind him when he'd snuck into Konoha and carved Itachi's name into the memorial stone. He looked down and felt tears burn at his own eyes. After a moment he looked up and met Naruto's eyes. "Yes, it hurt. But Itachi is alive _now_. And I don't have to face that again." He tried to share his determination with Naruto. "I have the chance to spend time with Itachi, grow with him, and be a family again." At the thought a smile began to fight its way across his face.

_A forgotten smile, "Will you teach me a special technique, Aniki?"_

Naruto smiled and nodded back at Sasuke. Then he froze. "What will Itachi say about your story? Will he believe you? What will he say about me being here with you?" Naruto's voice dropped at the last question. He was accepted by Sasuke and wanted to stay but he didn't want to make Itachi uncomfortable with his presence and ruin Sasuke's reunion.

"I'm sure Itachi will believe me. And I know he'll accept you like I do." Sasuke told him firmly and then stood. "Now, let me show you a way to train more quickly."

Naruto quickly wiped his eyes and darted out behind Sasuke. Sasuke looked down at the slightly shorter boy as he pulled even with him and felt his heart calm. At this moment things were going fine. When the exams started, that would be when hell would break loose but for the moment, everything in the world was alright.

* * *

_**Well I hope this chapter wasn't a disappointment for people. I am trying not to rush things and get their relationship and skills up. I don't want Sasuke or Naruto to just be BAM SUPER!! lol. So I hope things are going well for everyone and you enjoyed this.**_


	9. Training and Curses

**Chapter 9. Sorry it took so long everyone. I just got home from an extended vacation and was trying to fix this up to post (then we lost power for half the day lol). Enjoy!**

_

* * *

_

A deep laugh,  
A gentle touch,  
A cold glare,  
A red glow.

* * *

"Now," Sasuke started, standing towards the middle of the clearing. "You know the Shadow Clone technique. When you dismiss a Clone, you get their knowledge, so you can use them in training to gain their knowledge and skills faster. The downside of this is that you also get their energy drain on top of the energy that you yourself lost."

Naruto nodded understandingly. "So if I try the leaf and chakra training with clones and I'll gain the control that each of them gained but also their exhaustion."

"Correct." Sasuke smiled softly at Naruto. "Can you control how many clones you create? It's best to start with small numbers." He remembered Naruto making a few on the bridge, but at the time he'd been almost wiped out.

"Yes." Naruto nodded and cast the spell to create four other Narutos. "Why is starting small better? Wouldn't progress go faster with more?"

_A deep laugh, "You started too big, little brother."_

Sasuke wished he'd realized how curious and eager to learn Naruto was the first time through…but wishes were useless because he was here now to make sure Naruto survived. "It would go faster but until you've learned what it will feel like to have that sudden onset of fatigue and knowledge, it can be dangerous." Sasuke concentrated and cast his own Shadow Clone to create four of him as well. "This is also helpful for taijutsu training. When we begin to practice our fighting techniques we can use clone on clone battles to find strategies and perfect skills."

Naruto nodded and smiled. "You're a better sensei than Kakashi! He never teaches me anything."

Sasuke felt a wave of sadness at that. It was very true. Kakashi had never trained any of them. He'd only worked with Sasuke because he feared that Sasuke would be killed by Gaara in the finals. Naruto was left with an instructor who was unable to teach him anything and Sakura was forgotten. She may have been disqualified from the exams but that didn't mean she was supposed to be left behind. "Are you ready to begin?"

Naruto nodded and each of his clones grabbed a leaf. "I'm definitely ready, Sasuke!"

Sasuke nodded and gathered his own leaf to begin. With a determined look, all ten Sasuke and Naruto's closed their eyes and concentrated their chakra into their hands.

They began a routine that day that lasted until the day the Sand ninja's were to arrive. From breakfast to lunch Sasuke and Naruto worked on chakra control. After lunch they met up with Sakura and Kakashi to work on teamwork and taijutsu. Together they would have dinner and discuss battle strategies and plans. After dinner Sasuke and Naruto would head back to their home and train in ninjutsu and genjutsu.

Sasuke had started with easy skills, deepening the control and accuracy of his and Naruto's skills and then beginning to teach the more difficult techniques. He often cursed their teachers as he watched Naruto suck up the knowledge he was giving him. Naruto wanted to learn so badly that it was easy for him to pick up new skills and he worked hard until he had them perfect. He didn't cut corners nor did he give up if they were difficult. He was an immensely dedicated ninja and Sasuke felt his chest swell with pride as he watched Naruto improve by leaps and bounds. Sasuke quickly reached the level of chakra reserved he'd had at fifteen, and his reserves would need to improve more to match Naruto's. But their progress was quick and steady.

Before going to bed the two of them would take time to talk, just relax together and often Kyubbi was involved telling them of his life before his capture and what he wanted Naruto and Sasuke to learn.

The third night found Sasuke standing beside Naruto's bed once again. He wasn't sleeping and it was beginning to wear him down. The only time he'd slept without nightmares were the first two nights when Naruto had been in bed with him. Was it the warm aura that fell off Naruto like sunshine or something more? Sasuke knew he loved Naruto, he was his best friend and rival for as long as he could remember. He could never stay away from Naruto, could never keep the same distance with him that he'd had with the others. What was it about this blond boy that made the pain go away?

With a tired sigh Sasuke pushed those complicated thoughts away and crawled into Naruto's bed. Naruto opened one eye and gently put his arm around Sasuke as he had that first night. Sasuke immediately felt the tension in his body flow away at the easy acceptance of Naruto and the comfort he was willing to give him. His eyes began to drift closed when Naruto spoke.

"Tomorrow I'm moving into your room."

Sasuke felt a soft smile tug at his lips even as exasperation made him want to roll his eyes. He was in a twelve year old body and felt like an adult. It was embarrassing that he couldn't manage to sleep by himself but he deeply appreciated that Naruto noticed and wanted to help. But he couldn't admit that just yet. "Go to sleep, Naruto."

_A gentle touch, "You always knew what I meant."_

Naruto chuckled, seemingly understanding what Sasuke wouldn't say and gave him a gentle squeeze on his waist before the two of them drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning both of their eyes snapped open at the same time. Since Sasuke was a child, he'd been aware of the air and the feeling of the empty compound. He'd learned to ignore signatures that visited often, like the Hokage and occasional civilian children who wanted to play in the 'haunted' compound, or people who he expected but he was always instantly aware when someone entered his territory. He was jerked awake by an approaching presence inside the compound that wasn't supposed to be there.

Naruto seemed to be as aware as he was of what had pulled him awake, but the quick flash of red showed Sasuke it was Kyuubi who'd awoken the boy. Sasuke slipped quickly from the bed, one of the kunai's beneath Naruto's bed in his hand and headed towards the front door.

Naruto was close behind him holding his other weapon and keeping an eye out behind them. The presence was approaching the front door but one of the strategies that they had worked on was guarding all directions even when only one seemed like a threat. Some people were very good at hiding their chakra signatures.

They shared a look when someone knocked on the front door. Sasuke finally recognized the signature and opened the door to a very somber looking Anko. "Hello Sasuke, Naruto."

"Anko." Sasuke greeted stepping back and allowing her to enter the foyer. He handed the weapon back to Naruto who'd relaxed slightly at the sight of the Jonin. "What can we do for you?" Sasuke asked warily. He was grateful that Anko had immediately believed him when he'd told about coming back to his past and Orochimaru's plans. But though he felt admiration towards someone who understood his pain and what he'd been through with that bastard, they weren't close, in the past or the future.

Anko was quiet for a moment studying the two children before her. It was obvious that whatever she had to say was important to her, very important. And she seemed unsure if she should say anything to ninjas her junior in both age and experience. Her eyes searched Sasuke's and then Naruto's for a long moment as if searching for something. Sasuke was almost positive that what she was looking for was certainty in his eyes, a certainty that he was telling the truth; that he could remove her mark; and that he could kill Orochimaru. But he wasn't sure what she wanted to see in Naruto. Trust, honesty, kindness, and strength were the usual things that Sasuke saw in Naruto's wide blue eyes, but what did _she _see?

Anko seemed to have found what she was looking for and turned back to Sasuke. "Can you remove the curse mark before Orochimaru returns?"

Sasuke thought quickly, he wasn't sure he was built up the chakra amount required to cast the spell, without throwing himself into an exhaustion that would last far too long at the moment, just yet but…his eyes trailed to Naruto who was looking at him curiously. "We can remove the curse." He said turning back to Anko and nodding seriously.

"Good. Do it now." She said crossing her arms and building her confidence up before their eyes.

_A cold glare. "Orochimaru needs to be destroyed, completely and totally."_

"Naruto lead Anko to the back training room then meet me in the kitchen." Sasuke looked back at Anko when Naruto nodded. "Get comfortable, it will hurt and it may take a while." Anko nodded and the two of them disappeared. Sasuke darted down the hall to gather clothes for Naruto and quickly changed himself his mind racing with the jutsu he'd need to destroy the seal. When Naruto entered the kitchen Sasuke handed him his clothes and explained exactly what he needed Naruto to do.

* * *

Anko was cross-legged in the center of the room, obviously tense but not without the confidence she normally carried with her. "So what do we do Sasuke?"

"You just need to sit there. We'll do everything." Sasuke told her calmly and began marking up the floor directly behind her. After a few moments of writing he explained what he was doing. "The curse seal is a mixture of blood, ink, and chakra that ties your blood and chakra to Orochimaru's. If it was just blood and chakra, your own blood and chakra would destroy the seal itself. Our bodies are built that way, they automatically attack something foreign." He knelt behind her after setting down his brush and felt Naruto kneel close behind him. Naruto's bare knees touched his feet and his hands rested on Sasuke's neck. "But the ink that is used has been spelled to duplicate our own signatures so it makes our bodies believe that the seal is part of us."

"Sick bastard." Anko remarked. "It's almost like he impregnated me."

Sasuke was quiet for a moment then said quietly. "In a way he did. It contains a piece of his soul; so in essence, you have a part of him in you." He saw Anko tremble slightly and gently touched a hand to the back of her neck. "It will hurt."

"I expected it to." Anko replied. "But anything is worth finally freeing myself from him." She straightened and relaxed.

Sasuke nodded and looked back at Naruto. Naruto nodded resolutely and Sasuke closed his eyes. His hands ran through the signs so quickly, they were a blur and he felt the drain in chakra immediately and just as quickly felt the chakra Naruto was pressing into him to assist the jutsu. The ink from the floor began to flow up Anko's back and circle itself around the curse mark ignoring the seal that had been placed to protect her. The casting took only a minute, it was long and complicated for a jutsu, but it felt like hours. With a last burst of signs and power Sasuke slammed his thumbs into the curse mark and the ink moved quickly towards them. For a heartbeat nothing happened, then the curse mark exploded outward. Anko arched, her mouth open in a silent scream and her eyes wide with pain and Sasuke caught her before she landed hard on the ground. He watched as a white snake fell from the wound in her shoulder and tried to slither away. It was the soul of Orochimaru. It didn't truly have corporal form which is why it could live in Anko's body, but the justu had used had forced Orochimaru's blood, chakra, and the ink-filled soul into a form that could be expelled and destroyed.

Naruto was quick on his feet and drove the spelled-kunai Sasuke had handed him down into the white snake that had fallen from Anko's shoulder. It was dead and pinned into the wooden floor within moments. Naruto looked up with his deep blue eyes and met the gaze of Sasuke. "Let's get her into bed and then we can make some breakfast for us." His eyes told Sasuke he wanted to discuss what had happened and Sasuke nodded.

Together they took Anko into the room Naruto had slept in, bandaged the wound in her shoulder, and moved all of Naruto's belongings into Sasuke's room before going back to the kitchen. They hadn't done much that morning in the way of training but they were immensely grateful Sakura had begged off training this afternoon. The curse removal had drained them both and a good breakfast and nap were definitely in order to get their reserves back up.

Sasuke sat at the kitchen table and let Naruto make them ramen. He wasn't a big fan and often refused to let Naruto eat any without having a real meal but he was exhausted and didn't feel like making real food. "What questions do you have Naruto?" He asked looking back at his blond haired companion. Things had been so serious lately that he hadn't seen the playful side of Naruto often and he had to admit that he missed it. With a nod he came to a decision, that afternoon he and Naruto were going to go out and just have fun. They had a meeting later with the Hokage and the Sand team but this afternoon, they needed a break from it all.

"Did…Orochimaru cast that curse on you?" Naruto asked setting the ramen aside full of hot water to cook it. He sat close to Sasuke again and Sasuke appreciated the comforting heat of his body.

"Yes." Sasuke told him. "During the exams, he caught me and Sakura unaware and attacked us."

"Where was I?" Naruto asked his eyes confused.

"You'd been eaten by a rather large snake." Sasuke smirked at him mockingly.

Naruto raised his eyebrows in shock. "Seriously?"

"Yes." Sasuke looked away thinking back. "You showed up pretty quickly after that though. I was terrified, it was the first time I'd been near anyone that…evil. I was standing pertrified and about to be attacked by another large snake and you showed up and saved the day."

_A red glow. "Hey…you…alright…scaredy-cat?"_

Naruto blushed lightly, scratching the whisker marks on his cheeks. "I saved you?"

Sasuke nodded, "Though at the time I think it was more gloating that I was afraid of the enemy and you weren't that carried you through at the time."

Naruto was startled into laughter. "Maybe partly," He admitted acknowledging his desire to one-up Sasuke. He turned serious almost immediately though. "But I'm sure it was that I wanted to rescue you."

Sasuke leaned over briefly and wrapped Naruto into a hug. He wasn't used to touching, friendly or intimately, but it was always easier with Naruto. He was, as Sasuke had thought last night, a warm sunshine that Sasuke always desperately needed. "Unfortunately, he attacked again and knocked you out and then cursed me." Sasuke felt like shuddering but fought off the impulse.

Naruto wrapped his arms tightly around Sasuke, as if feeling the horror Sasuke's memories were filled with. "I won't let that happen."

Sasuke smiled into Naruto's shoulder feeling his tension drain away in the warmth of  
Naruto's hug. "I know."

**

* * *

**

I kept wanting to extend the chapter more but I think that this is a good place to end it. Next chapter: Anko wakes up, Naruto and Sasuke go out to play, and it might even get to the meeting of the Sand Team as well. The chapters up til now have gone rather slow, developing relationships, mostly between Sasuke and Naruto, but once the Exams start, things will begin to go faster. I hope you enjoyed!

**Review please!**


	10. Cultivating Foxes

_**Chapter 10!**

* * *

_

A quiet laugh,  
A blistered face,  
A deep cough,  
A soft touch.

* * *

By the time Sasuke and Naruto finished eating and cleaning up the kitchen, Sasuke had decided what he wanted to take Naruto out to do today. It would involve skills they learned through training, but it would be mostly fun for Naruto. He wanted to see the happiness Naruto used to exude so easily. He respected that Naruto wanted to protect and help him. But what he wanted most was the friend he'd left behind before. He wasn't going to let Naruto die this time and he knew that Naruto wouldn't let him die either.

"I'm going to check on Anko." Naruto told him as he set the last of the dishes in the cupboard. As he walked by Sasuke, he reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

Sasuke smirked at him slightly, comforted by the simple touch. "Alright. I'll make her something to snack on when she gets up. We're going out soon." Naruto nodded and headed down the hallways as Sasuke opened the fridge for some quick-heat dango. He knew that was Anko's favorite food. When it was finished, he wrote a quick note to Anko, letting her know when she woke up that she could stay in the house until they returned if she wanted to talk to them and set the dish and note on the desk by the bed they'd put her in.

Naruto followed him out of the room and smiled faintly when they were bending down to get their shoes on. "She's pretty bad at pretending to be asleep."

Sasuke chuckled quietly and nodded. "She probably didn't think we would notice."

Naruto laughed as he shut the door behind him and strolled along behind Sasuke who headed deeper into the Uchiha compound. "Everyone always underestimates children."

_A quiet laugh, "They don't think we pay attention."_

"Everyone always underestimates _you_, Naruto." Sasuke teased and pushed open the gate to the Uchiha gardens. It was overrun with wild green foliage but he thought it was beautiful anyway. Large hydrangea bushes held large bouquets of color; lotus plants shone bright white around them. He pressed on through the green, mentally noting that he needed to get out here to clear up some of the paths; if he wanted to make a life here, he should start making it the beautiful place it used to be.

"So, where are we going, Sasuke?" Naruto asked trailing along behind him, studying his surroundings with interest.

"Here." Sasuke replied his voice full of pleasure. He turned to watch Naruto's face as Naruto looked up to see the lake surrounded by willow and sakura trees. Naruto's eyes lit up in joy at the clear water and the gentle breeze that stirred the trees around them. "I figure we earned a day off." Sasuke told him smiling slightly at Naruto's gob-smacked expression.

Naruto whooped in joy and quickly shimmied out of his clothes. Sasuke fought off a blush and stripped as well. He looked up just as Naruto, now clad only in his boxers, ran and took a flying leap into the water. A large splash surged up from his impact spot and came close to hitting Sasuke. Sasuke felt the smile on his lips trying to spread wider. His memories of this lake were sparse and not always filled with joy. It had been a training ground or a hiding place more often than it had been a place to play. But he did remember Itachi taking him out here once or twice and he'd learned to swim here.

_A blistered face, 'I can do it!'_

He tossed aside the last of his clothing and walked into the lake to join his friend. Naruto was floating around on his back when Sasuke reached him and looked over in time to be dunked. He yelped as his face disappeared under water and Sasuke laughed quietly, swimming backwards to avoid the flailing limbs. He felt hands wrap around his ankle and closed his eyes as he was pulled under as well. He twisted so that he was facing his assailant and poked Naruto in the forehead before launching himself away. Naruto chased after him and splashed him as they both came up for air.

The Great Splash War thus begun.

After a while Naruto was laughing too hard to be a serious threat to Sasuke and the two of them relaxed and began to float, their eyes taking in the blue sky above them. "So Sasuke, what are your plans now?"

Sasuke rolled his head slightly so that he could see Naruto in his view and frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we've done a lot of training; tonight the ninja's from Sand arrive; the exams are almost here. What next?" Naruto's voice was quiet but Sasuke heard a bit of trepidation underlying his words.

Sasuke frowned, so much for keeping Naruto carefree today. "It doesn't matter. By coming here, I should be changing the past. I shouldn't get cursed, Itachi will be home, the Hokage shouldn't die, and Orochimaru should. After that…nothing can be the same. I don't know what will come after." Sasuke confessed feeling a small bit of anxiety as well.

"Doesn't that worry you?" Naruto murmured.

"Not at all." Sasuke said firmly and sank into the water to tread beside Naruto. "No one can know the future; it's bad enough that I know part of it." He confessed looking at his best friend. They moved closer to the edge of the lake and climbed out.

"Why is that bad?" Naruto asked peering at Sasuke through his eyelashes.

Sasuke saw a hint of red in his eyes and knew that Kyuubi was just as interested in his answer as Naruto himself. It was understandable; many people would give everything to be able to tell the future. "I know that bad things are coming, so I work hard to protect us and because I know what _should_ be coming, if anything were to happen to someone, I'd feel guilty that I wasn't able to stop it." Sasuke told him as they waded to shore. "I'd rather live day to day, trying my hardest because it's how I want to live." He leaned into Naruto nudging him slightly with his shoulder. "If I worry about the future, I will miss out on a lot of the now." Naruto nodded and Sasuke felt sure even Kyuubi was content with that answer. "Now…" Sasuke started getting to his feet. "You're it!" He tapped Naruto on the head and darted off into the trees.

He didn't think it would take Naruto long to find him, he wasn't trying to make it hard either. Naruto would catch him, tag him, and they'd switch having a simple game of tag. As they darted from tree to tree, he studied the gardens noting what needed work, what sections held specific plants, if there were any stone decorations, etc. He dodged a few times when he felt Naruto closing in and smirked to himself at how good Naruto was at tracking. They were circling back when Naruto tackled him out of the tree into a bush and as they lay there decided the game was done.

A strong smell exploded into the air from beneath them and Naruto began to laugh. "Mint?" He sat up and began peeling the leaves off, snickering as it left behind a green tint on his skin.

_A deep cough, "What do you do, bathe in that?"_

Sasuke grimaced as he began to peel them off himself as well. "I need to start gardening and cleaning this place up."

"Gardening?" Naruto asked a strange tone in his voice.

Sasuke nodded wondering if Naruto was laughing at the thought of Sasuke gardening. "I hadn't thought much about it before today but the whole compound is mine now. I should work on cleaning it up and making it a home instead of just letting it go."

Naruto nodded reaching down to help Sasuke to his feet so they could return to the lake and their clothes. "I want to help."

Sasuke was about to tell Naruto he didn't have to when two things hit him. One, Naruto lived here now too, it was his home now. Sasuke didn't want him to feel like a guest when he sincerely wanted it to be Naruto's home. And two, Sasuke had helped Naruto move into his house, and more recently, his bedroom this morning and among Naruto's belongings were plants. At first he'd thought they were just for decoration but he had seen Naruto gently stroking the leaves as he watered them. A whole new side of Naruto just revealed itself to Sasuke who felt like glowing at the discovery; Naruto liked to garden.

"Of course you're helping." Sasuke smirked, glancing at Naruto out of the corner of his eye. "It's your home too."

Naruto's eyes flashed to his and he flushed with pleasure. "Thank you, Sasuke." He whispered his voice full of emotion.

Sasuke felt his own throat tighten in emotion and responded by throwing Naruto's clothes at his head. "Why don't we find the garden shed and figure out what things we need to buy?" He tugged his clothes on. "We don't have plans until later, we can go shopping for things the house needs."

Naruto bounced on the balls of his feet, his face lit up with a smile. "Why haven't you mentioned wanting to do this before? I love yard work."

_Ahh, there's the smile I wanted. _Sasuke thought to himself, his eyes fixed on the happy expression. "I didn't think of it as a big priority before." He shrugged, _training to keep us safe was more important, _he added to himself. They reached the edge of the garden and peered around for a garden shed.

"There." Naruto pointed to a wooden structure overgrown with vines. They wrestled the door open and Sasuke twitched at what was waiting inside. Naruto burst into laughter.

"I blame you."

Naruto laughed even harder and knelt to the ground to peer closer at the three beautiful orange foxes that sat cuddled up, staring at them warily. "I think it's a good sign." He told Sasuke and let Kyuubi reach out to the foxes.

Sasuke smiled softly as he watched the foxes yip in joy and clamber all over Naruto. The influence of Kyuubi had encouraged the foxes to trust Naruto, and himself, he decided as one of the foxes came to rub at his leg. "I guess we'll get some food for them while we're out too."

Naruto smiled widely up at Sasuke his arms full of orange fur. His eyes were full of gratitude. "I've never had a pet before." He confessed, glancing at the wriggling bodies.

Sasuke frowned angrily. He hated the villagers sometimes. The landlord would never have let Naruto have a pet and the places that sold animals, probably wouldn't have sold to him anyway. He reached out to Kyuubi in apology before remarking, "Kyuubi doesn't count?"

Naruto's wistful look flew away under surprised laughter. He set the foxes down and wrapped an arm around Sasuke as he continued to laugh. "Kyuubi is going to kill you."

Sasuke smirked shrugging. He knew Kyuubi would understand he was trying to erase Naruto's sadness. "Looks like we need almost all the gardening tools we can find." He remarked noticing that nothing was left in the shed.

Naruto nodded in agreement looking down at the foxes. "You guys wait here for us alright?" Sasuke's eyebrows rose when the foxes nodded once, their eyes locked on Naruto. "Let's go." Naruto smiled at Sasuke and started pulling him towards the gates.

Sasuke let him drag him along, letting his mind wander to the foxes, Kyuubi, their home, and Anko waiting for them. By the time they reached the store Naruto had started talking to him. "Um…Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked up at him and raised an eyebrow in question. "Hn?" He grunted when Naruto started scratching the back of his head without answering.

"Do you have the money to buy these things?" Naruto asked flushing lightly.

Sasuke nodded slowly. "Everything attached to the Uchiha name, including money, is mine." _Ours. _He added to himself knowing that Naruto would think it was charity if he said that aloud.

Naruto grinned nodding in excitement once again. "Oh, alright then!" He dragged Sasuke into the store and began to flit from display to display. Sasuke watched in amusement as his friend began babbling about things that they would need. He felt the owner closing in on them, a dark fury surrounding him.

Sasuke turned to face him just as the man opened his mouth to yell, to throw Naruto out Sasuke suspected, and let the man meet his blazing sharingan. The man's mouth shut with an audible snap and his eyes widened in fear. "We'd like to buy gardening supplies." Sasuke told him quietly, letting killing intent start to leak into his stare.

The man immediately began to nod, his face shining with sweat. "O-of course, Mr. Uchiha." He gulped out. He dug in his pockets frantically and pulled out an order form. "Just fill this out and everything will be delivered to your home."

Sasuke took the paper and handed it behind him to Naruto who had come over when Sasuke began talking to the owner. Naruto ran to the back of the shop so he could work his way forward again and Sasuke let the sharingan disappear but not the deadly glare. "I expect you to pass this on to the other shop owners as well, Naruto Uzumaki is to be treated with the same respect that you would give me. Anything he buys is to go on the Uchiha account and delivered to my home." Sasuke stepped closer to the trembling man and heard Kyuubi growling in pleasure in his mind at the terror he was causing. "If I hear that he has been thrown out or refused service, the Uchiha will never buy from you again and I will personally make your life miserable. Is that understood?" Sasuke used to hate using his name to gain things but in the case of Naruto, he would do it willingly. He didn't want Naruto to suffer for the ignorance of people who should know better; not anymore.

The man nodded quickly and bowed low. "Understood, Mr. Uchiha."

Sasuke turned away from the man, letting him vanish behind the counter to hide himself and regain his confidence. Sasuke joined Naruto who was making notes on the order form. "Almost done?"

Naruto paused without looking up at Sasuke and nodded slightly. "Thank you." He whispered softly.

Sasuke frowned, he hadn't wanted Naruto to hear him, he knew that Naruto was proud and might resent that Sasuke had threatened someone on his behalf. "For what?" He asked leaning down slightly to try and see Naruto's face.

Naruto looked up and Sasuke sucked in his breath at the tears in his eyes. But Naruto just shook his head smiling widely and finished filling out the paper. "This is everything we need. I included seeds, fertilizers, and tools." Naruto handed the paper over. "Cross off what you think we don't need."

Sasuke didn't glance at the paper. Instead he walked to the owner and handed it over. "I expect to have everything on this list by the end of the week." He told the man and signed his name at the bottom of the order form. The money would be taken directly from his account when everything was delivered. He took the customer copy the man handed to him and this time when they left, it was he who was dragging Naruto.

_We need to go to the bank, I want to give Naruto access to the account so that people can't say he isn't allowed to use the money. I need to let the Hokage know that I threatened that disgusting man and the other shop-keepers. _He thought to himself as he peered around for the pet shop. He stopped in his tracks when he heard Naruto sniff. "Naruto?"

Naruto looked up at him, his eyes beginning to drip tears. It was a much prettier crying face than when he was sobbing before but Sasuke didn't like that Naruto was crying at all. "Sasuke?"

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked gruffly. He kept making Naruto cry today and he hated it. He wanted smiles, pranks, and jokes from his blond friend.

"You…you're doing so much for me." Naruto whispered looking down.

Sasuke flushed embarrassed and shy before tugging Naruto out of the main road and into an alley way. "Please stop crying." He begged bending down to peer into Naruto's eyes.

Naruto sniffed and dragged his sleeve over his eyes. "I'm trying." He complained. "I just…no one has ever done anything like this for me before. The Old Man told the shop keepers and my landlord that they had to be nice to me but they never were."

Sasuke fought back a growl at the unjust behavior of the villagers though he gave credit for the old man trying. He sighed and reached forward to hug Naruto. Every time they touched, it felt more and more natural and Sasuke knew he wanted to be able to touch Naruto forever. He didn't feel like he had to be someone he wasn't with Naruto, now or before, Naruto just wanted him to be there. And Naruto had been just as touch-deprived as he was, he was probably enjoying the ability to touch someone just as much. "You are my best friend, Naruto." He confessed quietly. "Like you want to protect me, I want to protect you." Naruto gasped back his tears and held Sasuke tight to him as he buried his face into his shirt. Sasuke let Naruto cry and turned to Kyuubi who'd come into his mind.

"**You love him.**" Kyuubi stated, his voice calm and quiet as if he'd just come to a realization that made sense.

Sasuke flushed and ducked his head into Naruto's sunny hair as if he was hiding his face from Kyuubi. _'Yes.'_ He admitted. '_He is my best friend._' Kyuubi didn't respond but Sasuke felt him pull away with amusement in his aura, as if he knew something that Sasuke was unaware of.

After a minute, Naruto pulled away, his face bright red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry."

"Don't. Don't apologize." Sasuke growled, looking away. "If you want to cry, cry. I don't mind." He laughed a bit self-mockingly. "Not like I haven't cried on you."

_A soft touch, "I'm always here."_

Naruto smiled softly and linked fingers with Sasuke. "Let's get the food and go home."

Sasuke nodded and they headed back out to the street hand in hand.

* * *

Anko was sitting on a bench in the backyard beneath the sun when they arrived. Naruto paused to study her face before continuing to the shed. Sasuke set the bag of purchases and food he carried beside the bench and sat down. "How are you feeling?" He asked quietly watching Naruto bend down in the doorway of the shed.

Naruto had asked if he could move the foxes into the house and after a few minutes of debating he agreed on the condition that Kyuubi make sure they understood they were not to go to the bathroom in the house, chew on anything not specifically given to them, and they had to be on their best behavior. Naruto and Kyuubi had agreed and Naruto informed Sasuke with a grin that Kyuubi seemed very excited to have more foxes around even if he wouldn't admit it straight out.

Anko glanced down at him and then looked away. "I feel a bit confused." Anko admitted raising an eyebrow as Naruto approached the house, the three foxes cuddled in his arms and draped over his shoulders.

"In a day or so, everything should feel normal again." Sasuke reassured her. When she made no response he stood and gathered the bags he'd had to join Naruto in settling their new pets. He was almost in the house when she did speak.

"You're a good man. Like your brother."

Sasuke spun around to meet her eyes, trying to understand what she meant. Her eyes were more open than he'd ever seen before and he could see honesty in her gaze. _She knows…_he thought, his breath catching. _It isn't just what I told her about the future, but she knew Itachi_. Before he could comment, she turned away.

"I need to check-in with the Hokage." She announced and jumped away.

"Sasuke?" Naruto called poking his head out of the kitchen. "Everything okay?" He asked noticing the stiff set of Sasuke's shoulders.

After a moment Sasuke nodded slightly and joined Naruto. "Anko said Itachi was a good man." He confessed, looking at the ground. He glanced up startled as Naruto grabbed his hand happily.

"That means we have another sure ally!" Naruto pointed out to him. When Sasuke finally nodded, smiling slightly, Naruto dragged him off. "Let me show you where I put the foxes."

_Please don't be in our bedroom…please don't be in our bedroom_…Sasuke prayed easily calling the bedroom 'theirs' without hesitation. He let out a soft sigh as Naruto turned into a small room between their room and the room that had been Itachi's. It was normally packed with storage but Naruto had cleaned it up leaving the boxes in neat stacks around the walls of the room. The center was open and the bed Naruto had bought for them sat in one of the corners. A few boxes weren't directly next to each other, leaving openings for them to hide and play in. Sasuke nodded approvingly. "The door will stay open slightly." Sasuke told the foxes who looked up at him. "You are to do your business outside and don't chew on things in the house." He raised an eyebrow as all three nodded before scampering up the boxes to play.

"Kyuubi says foxes understand humans. That most animals do, but usually choose to ignore what we say." Naruto smiled as he and Sasuke headed downstairs again.

"Why are they listening to me then?" He asked as Naruto settled at the kitchen table. He opened the fridge and began pulling out things to make stir-fry. It was definitely past time for lunch at this point.

"It's your home, _our_ home." Naruto corrected blushing as Sasuke glared at him from the stove. "You're the alpha."

Sasuke snorted as he started to cook their lunch. "Why me?"

"**I would be but I am only a spirit now. Naruto would be as my container but he defers to you enough that you are the alpha.**" Kyuubi's voice floated in Sasuke's mind. "**They see the two of you as equals though. So both of you are alpha to them.**"

Naruto nodded, jumping up to begin setting the table. "Thank you for letting me keep them, Sasuke." He smiled softly at Sasuke who nodded blushing slightly at the thanks. He yawned as he set the final dishes down and grinned at Sasuke. "Sorry."

Sasuke yawned in response. "I think we need to take a nap after we eat. We'll need to be rested up to meet the Hokage and the Sand Ninjas."

Naruto nodded and quietly gave thanks as Sasuke filled his plate before his own. "So…can you tell me about him? The Sand's Jinchuriki."

Sasuke chewed thoughtfully and nodded slowly. "I can though I won't tell you everything. Some things you need to let Gaara tell you himself." He watched as Naruto nodded in agreement and tilted his head in thought as to what to say. "Gaara had his demon, the one-tailed raccoon, Shukaku, put into him while he was in his mother's stomach. Consequently, it killed his mother. He is the youngest son of the Fourth Kazekage. He has suffered, perhaps, even more than you have Naruto. Our village shunned you, his tried to kill him." He paused as he chewed to consider his next words as Naruto's face darkened in anger. "The reason I said that you are not like Gaara, but are, is because Kyuubi is intelligent, he is smart and cares about you. Shukaku is crazy, blood-thirsty, and poisons Gaara's thoughts. You both contain demons, but while yours protects your body and your mind and wants you to grow, Shukaku only protects Gaara's body to keep him from dying and so protect himself."

Naruto was growling under his breath and Sasuke heard a few phrases; 'stupid village' and 'teach the stupid raccoon' were the most common. "I'll help him." He paused a moment and looked a tad pale then nodded determinedly. "Kyuubi says he'll help too. But mostly because the raccoon needs to be taught that '**he is an upstart one-tail and has no business trying to start another war**.'" Kyuubi's voice came out of Naruto's mouth at the last part and Sasuke fought not to shudder at the slightly creepy way they had switched mid-sentence.

"I believe you can help Gaara, not only learn to control Shukaku with Kyuubi's help, but help bring his mind back. You can't do it the same way as you had before, but I trust you can find your own way." Sasuke told him smirking slightly and hiding the bit of sadness within him, _you did it the first time with Gaara and you did it with me. I have faith in you._

Naruto nodded firmly and they finished the rest of lunch in comfortable silence. Sasuke knew that Naruto's mind was racing and he felt comfort in the determination he saw in Naruto's eyes. They cleaned up in silence as well and while Sasuke set an alarm to be sure they'd wake from their nap in plenty of time to make it to the Hokage's office, Naruto settled into the bed and waited for Sasuke.

They were just drifting off when Sasuke felt the light weight of the foxes jump onto the bottom of the bed and begin to find places to curl up. He felt Naruto chuckle beside him and rolled over to duck his head into Naruto's shoulder. "I still blame you."

* * *

**Aww the cuteness!! I kept intending to throw the Sand Ninjas in but it just never worked out. So after their cute cuddly nap with the three foxes I threw in, they'll be on their way and FINALLY meet. LOL. **

**I'm tweaking ages and facts btw. Anko and Itachi will have been friends prior to the massacre. She is one of the few that knew the truth of the massacre because....well I'll reveal that when Itachi shows up and the two of them meet again. :) **

**Nice chapter of fluff and getting the development of their relationship going, Kyuubi knows what they don't lol, however, now that they will be leaving the house, others characters will start popping up more frequently. Sakura and Kakashi specifically in addition to Gaara. **

**I hope you enjoyed!! Review!!**


	11. Meeting the Sand

_**Chapter 11 **_

**Sorry it took so long, this chapter is a little...well crazy and a bit OOC at times. It just came out like this. I may change bits later but for the most parts, the characters are behaving the way they are because I have plans that involve them acting this way. If you have any suggestions feel free to tell me! But do it in a friendly way or I'll just ignore you :) LOL anyway I hope it isn't disappointing. Anko, Kankuro, Temari, and Baki are the hardest for me to write so let me know where to find more information on them if I totally messed it up.**

**Enjoy....**

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_A simple smile,  
A dark laugh,  
A deep growl,  
A silent tear,  
A secret truth._

* * *

Sasuke rolled over to slam a hand down on the alarm when it went off two hours later. He sighed lightly and pushed himself from the bed, glancing at Naruto and the random foxes starting to wake themselves. He went to the bathroom and then found himself standing in the back door looking across the yard as his mind turned over the things to come.

Gaara, who they were to be meeting, was a complete blood-thirsty psychotic, at this time in his life. He'd been raised having been told he was a monster and having an angry, insane demon whispering bloody things in his mind while not being able to sleep…well, in actuality Gaara was lucky to have any control at all. It definitely spoke to his strength of mind.

Temari and Kankuro loved their brother, they could remember the lonely, scared little boy he'd been before their father had forbidden contact. But they feared him too. Yet, he was certain that if Naruto was able to give Gaara back hope, like before, they would be right there for their brother, all over again.

Sasuke sighed as he shifted slightly and let his mind switch gears. In truth he was more concerned about the exams than Gaara and what might happen with him. Naruto would do fine, he'd be able to pass the first test without a hitch, Sasuke had told Kyuubi about Naruto refusing to give up and was reassured that now that Naruto and Kyuubi talked, it wouldn't be an issue. He knew that Naruto would be able to handle the second and third exams as well, they'd been training diligently and would again before the third trial. But Susuke was apprehensive about Orochimaru and his followers. He had to teach Anko and Kakashi how to remove the curse mark just in case. But he didn't want things to come to that.

In a perfect world, they'd kill Orochimaru and Kabuto without hassle and his followers would either defect or slink away and disappear.

Sasuke heard a slight movement behind him and turned to see the largest of the foxes standing in the kitchen door. The two of them stared at each other a moment before Sasuke raised an eyebrow in question. "Are you here to tell me Naruto is ready?"

The fox nodded her head once and trotted off down the hall. Sasuke shook his head in amusement and went to find Naruto. It was going to take some getting used to, these intelligent foxes.

The blond was bouncing on the balls of his feet, a wide smile on his face. "Sasuke, you're too serious!" He chuckled, poking Sasuke in the cheek.

Sasuke huffed and smacked Naruto's hand away the serious look giving way to a light blush. "Ready?" At Naruto's nod, they started towards the Hokage Tower, walking leisurely even though they were both slightly tense as they thought about the upcoming meeting.

_A simple smile, "It was really very funny."_

"I wonder if Sakura is still mad." Naruto suddenly mused aloud settling his arms behind his head.

"At Lee?" Sasuke asked chuckling lightly. The last time Team 7 had met up for training practice, Sakura had arrived late with Lee trailing closely behind her. She'd apparently come from a meeting with Tenten before their own training and hadn't managed to escape before the 'Green Spring of Youth' had showed up. He'd insisted on walking Sakura back to meet them and asked her on a date, which she refused and then had to listen to him say he was going to run around Konoha twenty times if he couldn't convince her to go out that night. By the end of it, Sasuke and Naruto had thrown Kakashi into her claws and fled.

"Probably." Sasuke felt a smirk cross his lips in amusement. He could understand how Sakura had become Tsunade's apprentice after the temper he'd seen her display.

They were two streets away from the Hokage tower when they heard a heated argument.

"Put me down!" A young boy yelled kicking in the grip of a tall Sand Ninja.

"Watch where you are going, brat!" The Ninja, who Saskue recognized as Kankuro, yelled in the boys face.

"Konohamaru!" Naruto gasped startled, he started forward, an angry expression on his face and Sasuke grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Excuse me." Sasuke walked up to the two and grabbed Konohamaru by the back of his jacket taking him from Kankuro's hold gently. "Be polite to our guests Konohamaru." He set the boy down who ran to begin whispering with Naruto. "Welcome to the Leaf Village." Sasuke greeted Kankuro and Temari who he saw behind him. "Are you on your way to the Hokage Tower?"

He ignored the nasty, suspicious looks they gave him and walked past. "Please follow us." He gestured to Naruto who smirked at the dumbfounded expression on the strange ninja's faces and waved to Konohamaru to catch up to his friend.

Sasuke knew that Gaara was likely to be around and he led the two Sand Ninja's to the Tower in silence.

Until Kankuro opened his mouth. "Who the fuck are you?"

Sasuke looked over his shoulder and sneered at Kankuro, "You are guests of this village. Causing trouble isn't a good way to start your visit."

Kankuro glared at Sasuke and his fists clenched. He closed his mouth again as Temari put a hand on his arm. "My name is Temari, this is my brother Kankuro." She bowed slightly as they walked. "We are here for the exams."

Sasuke nodded. "I am Sasuke, this is Naruto. We are also in the exams." He looked up at the tower as they reached it and could feel Kakashi, Sakura, the man he recognized as Baki, and Gaara inside the building.

He felt a moment of nervousness as he glanced at his blond haired companion but Naruto just gave him a firm nod and a flash of red and his eyes, reassured him of Naruto's determination in facing this.

They entered the building and Sasuke let Kankuro and Temari go ahead of them as they headed upstairs where a Jonin secretary indicated they were to go. He felt his hand gripped by Naruto as they wandered down the hallway leading to the door and looked over at him.

Naruto didn't say anything related to what was going on, they couldn't with Kankuro and Temari watching them, but Sasuke could see that he wanted to reassure Sasuke however he could. "When we get home, I want Ramen for dinner."

Sasuke felt a little of the tension in his chest drain away and smirked at Naruto whose smile widened in response. They opened the door to the meeting chamber and walked in confidently.

* * *

Sasuke led Naruto over to Kakashi and Sakura who sat at one end of the large meeting table and across from the Sand Ninja's. He noticed Gaara had yet to arrive.

The meeting went much as Sasuke expected it to. The Third and Baki went through the plans that Sound had made to take over the Leaf Village. Only one part was very interesting. When the plans first began to be revealed Kankuro jumped to his feet, snarling at Baki.

"Why are you discussing this with these Genins?" He pointed to the Rookie 9 that sat around the table as well.

Baki looked at him and frowned at him, though it was obvious he himself was uncomfortable with it. It was the Third who answered.

"These Genin are going to be in the exams. They need to be aware of the dangers that are coming."

"They shouldn't be in the exams! They are too young!" Kankuro burst out growling at the Third and forgetting himself.

He was thrust back into his chair as Sasuke threw Kakashi's book at his head. Silence reigned in the room before eyes turned in shock to the boy. Many of the others were shocked at Sasuke's aim and skill at hitting Kankuro before they noticed he'd moved. Naruto, however, was chuckling at Sasuke's choice of weapon as Kakashi fought the urge to chase his beloved book.

"I told you to be polite to your hosts." Sasuke told him, sitting as calmly as it looked like he had been before.

Kankuro picked up the book from where it had fallen and lifted it as if to throw it back but paused as the cover caught his attention. He sat back down and opened the cover and proceeded to ignore the rest of the room. Kakashi looked like he was going to cry while the Third shook his head.

Sasuke only rolled his eyes. If he'd known that Kankuro was a pervert, he would have given him the book when they first met.

By the time the meeting was over, everyone had their orders when the Sound commenced their attack. Kiba, Hinata, and Shino were to go with Kurenai and help civilians get to evacuation places. Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru were to help Iruka and Asuma at the Academy with the children. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were to find the Third and follow his orders, or if they couldn't find him, they were to go to Kakashi. Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara, were to go with Baki.

Sasuke knew the Third wanted him and Naruto to come to him because of knowing the things that Sasuke did, and he hoped that Sasuke would keep Naruto out of danger.

They were heading back home when Sasuke felt Gaara and turned Naruto into the red heads direction. Gaara was sitting on the roof of the hotel that they were staying at and he glanced down at the two of them as they stopped below him.

_A dark laugh, "I will enjoy killing you."_

Sasuke felt the tension shoot up as Gaara's eyes found them and in a flash of sand, he was standing before them on the ground. "Who are you?" Gaara's deep voice asked as he glared at the two of them. He paused, a hand going to his head and his eyes narrowed on Naruto.

"My name is Naruto, this is my friend Sasuke." Naruto greeted him, smiling widely. "You're Gaara right?" Gaara made no response to him; instead he took a long moment to study the both of them, the sand in his gourd rustling. Naruto ignored the silence and just continued talking. "I figure you must be Gaara since we met Kankuro, Temari, and that Baki guy so that leaves you as Gaara."

"Shut up." Gaara growled.

Sasuke scowled resting a hand on Naruto's back as the blond tensed. He felt Kyuubi stirring inside of Naruto and knew that Shukaku was screaming inside of Gaara's head.

"I'll kill you." The sand began to climb from his gourd and Sasuke started forward only to have his wrist grabbed by Naruto.

_A deep growl, "Naruto is MY kit."_

Kyuubi flared up causing Naruto's eyes to bleed red and his voice came creepily out of Naruto's mouth. "**You would do well to learn your place raccoon.**"

Gaara groaned and his other hand grabbed his head from the other side. "Stop it." His voice was low and filled with pain.

Naruto leaned forward, red chakra flowing off of him and into Gaara who flinched as it touched him. "**You stupid raccoon, hold your tongue and go back to your cave.**"

Gaara flinched and thrashed beneath the dark red chakra that flowed over him. "Stop it!" He cried a bit louder and vanished in a swirl of sand.

The red faded from Naruto's eyes and he looked up at Sasuke questioningly. "Is he okay?"

Sasuke did not know the answer to that. Shukaku had obviously been railing against Gaara's mind in retaliation for his fear of the fox, something that Sasuke had never seen before. But…if Gaara was as strong as Sasuke knew him to be, he'd be fine. And he'd come searching for Naruto for answers.

_A silent tear, "I was so alone."_

"He is probably alright." Sasuke linked hands with Naruto and began to tug him back to the house. "Let's get dinner. It's getting pretty late."

Naruto nodded and followed behind him. "Gaara seems so sad." He said quietly.

Sasuke felt a small smile try to fight its way onto his lips. Only Naruto could say a homicidal psychopath who had just threatened to kill him seemed _sad_. It was Naruto's best, and most terrifying quality. He would ignore danger to fight for someone he thought needed him, to the point of fighting that person as well. Sasuke could never forget the feeling of sticking his hand through Naruto's chest. He had stopped having nightmares about it because he had been working to make it up to Naruto, but that didn't mean it didn't haunt him. He wanted to protect Naruto, wanted to give his friend the best of the world. He ruffled Naruto's hair and smirked as the boy laughed and batted his hand away. He wanted Naruto to smile.

Sasuke paused as they reached his house then sighed and continued forward fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

Anko stood in front of the door facing off with Sakura. He didn't know what they were arguing about, but he wasn't sure he wanted to either. Naruto took one look at the angry faces and darted off to the side to enter the house from the back door. Probably to warn the foxes to stay out of the line of fire, Sasuke thought grinning mentally. "What can I do for you?" He asked as he came to the door and interrupted them.

"I came by to ask if you wanted to join me for dinner." Sakura turned her back on Anko smiling shyly at him. Sasuke felt a flash of terror at the thought and the look on her face but Sakura continued without waiting for a response. "And I get here and Anko told me that you can't come because she is moving in tonight."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Anko who grinned wickedly at him before striding through the now open front door past a confused Naruto. "Anko is apparently staying with us."

Naruto tilted his face to the side and peered at Sakura. "Are you staying for dinner?"

Sighing, the girl shook her head. "I'll come by for breakfast. If Anko really is moving in, you guys need to deal with that." She waved to Naruto, gave Sasuke a long look and disappeared down the road.

"I haven't seen her give you that look for a long time." Naruto remarked, no expression in his voice.

Sasuke whimpered and threw himself into Naruto's arms in a dramatic fashion. "Save me Naruto!" Naruto was closing himself off because of Sakura. Sasuke didn't know why exactly, but he knew he didn't like it. He'd even act like a fool to keep Naruto happy.

Naruto smiled and dragged his friend into the house laughing quietly. He paused as he shut the door and glanced down at Sasuke. "Is Anko really moving in here?"

Sasuke shrugged, not moving from where he rested against Naruto. "She didn't deny it when Sakura said she was."

"Why?" Naruto questioned leaning back into Sasuke unconsciously.

Sasuke said nothing for a moment, simply enjoying the feeling of resting in Naruto's arms. Then he straightened and headed off towards the kitchen. "Let's find out."

They found Anko in the kitchen pulling out things for dinner.

_A secret truth. "I was in love once…"_

"So what room is mine, boys?" She asked setting plates on the counter and pointing at them.

"You can have the room you stayed in before if you like." Sasuke told her raising an eyebrow at her commanding behavior. "Why are you moving in?" He was irritated about it, though he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised. The Hokage had asked if they felt safe. He probably wanted Anko to move in for extra protection for them.

"The Hokage was worried about you here alone." She admitted pointing at the food on the counter with a glare. Sasuke moved to start cooking, it figured she would get out the food that she wanted to eat and then have no idea how to make it. Naruto began setting the dishes on the table as he listened, his eyes were not on Anko but Sasuke could tell that he and Kyuubi were paying close attention to her. "But also…" She paused and briefly lost the hard, almost crazy look, she normally wore. "Itachi is returning."

Sasuke paused to glance at her and wondered just how close she and his brother really were. He knew his brother had had a lover once, but he had always supposed it was one of the Uchiha he had killed. He never thought of it being a non-Uchiha, and definitely never thought of Anko as his brothers lover.

"The Hokage wants someone who knows the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre and Itachi to be here."

Sasuke knew she was telling the truth, but a quick glance at Naruto made him believe he and Naruto agreed, that there was much more to it than that. But…he wouldn't know what that truth was…until Itachi returned.

"Where's my food brat?" She snarled looking over her shoulder at him.

Sasuke closed his eyes briefly, ignoring her last words, as he finished up the last of the slicing. Everything would change once Itachi arrived…and he couldn't wait.

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**Well...It took longer to get this done than I expected. I was in Disney World for a week after Christmas and the week prior was...stressful to say the least lol.**

**BUT! I am on winter break and getting back into the swing of updating so the next should be out soon. If I have a nice calm, stress-free break anyway. *crosses fingers***

**LOL Review please!**


	12. Sadistic Pleasures

_**Well...I wasn't actually going to update this as quickly, I was going to do Art of Love first but I got the most reviews ever for last chapter and tons of alerts and favs that I had to do this sooner! I'm so glad you all like it. Read the AN at the bottom please!**

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An incredulous look,  
A slightly hysterical laugh,  
An eye roll,  
A snicker,  
A dream.

* * *

After dinner, they were all sitting outside going through the first batch of items from the gardening store, well Sasuke and Naruto were. Anko was lounging around just watching and commenting. Suddenly a loud screech came from the side of the house and they turned to see what the racket was about.

Sasuke had felt one of the Rookie Nine approaching but had ignored it figuring that if no one answered the front door, they would go away. Apparently Ino decided to check the back before giving up. Somehow…Sasuke wasn't surprised.

"What are you doing here?" She screeched at Anko. In her hands was a bag that looked to be of seeds and Sasuke vaguely remembered her working for a flower shop. Maybe that garden care store had sent her to bring the seeds Naruto had ordered? He shrugged it off annoyed when Naruto called out a cheerful greeting to Ino only to receive a withering glare in response.

"I live here." Anko remarked with a growing evil smirk on her face. "What are _you_ doing here?"

_An incredulous look, "I can't believe it!"_

Ino's eyes widened to almost comical proportions and Sasuke wondered exactly what was going through her head for a moment. "How dare you seduce Sasuke into letting you live here!!"

Sasuke and Naruto gaped in astonishment at Ino's accusation and turned incredulous eyes on Anko to see how she would react.

Anko's smirk grew and she stood coming over to Sasuke and draping her arms around him. "He seduced me…" She purred running a finger down his cheek. "He's just so…handsome."

Sasuke closed his mouth and set his lips into a grimace as Ino screeched again. He'd forgotten the lungs the girl had in her arguments with Sakura over him. Sakura had refrained from doing it in his company lately, probably a way to show him she was more mature now. "Ino…"

"No Sasuke! I know she seduced you!" She dropped the bag and ignored Naruto as he rushed over to pick it up and make sure nothing was damaged. "You dirty old lady!"

Naruto gaped as Sasuke rolled his eyes. _This is not going to go well._

Anko straightened and wandered toward Ino her fingers twitching. "What did you call me?"

Ino hesitated seeming to remember that she was addressing not only her senior in age, but senior in rank. Anko wasn't very well known to younger generations, only the older knew what she actually did but the Rookie Nine knew enough that Ino probably realized she was in a lot of trouble. She didn't get a chance to respond before Anko made a series of hand movements and Ino was wrapped in snakes. She froze, her blue eyes wide with fear as one swayed in front of her face, its mouth open and fangs dripping poison slowly. "I'm…so-sorry." She whimpered trying to move her face away from the snakes.

"I don't think you are." Anko's smirk grew as Ino paled.

Naruto had sidled up to Sasuke and tilted his head to the side. "Should we help?"

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Probably but I don't think it's wise to get involved in an argument between women." He almost shivered at the thought. Women, he believed, needed to deal with other women. He certainly had never understood them and he wasn't sure he wanted to.

They all seemed a bit on the psychotic side to him.

_A slightly hysterical laugh, "You did what?!?"_

Naruto frowned at Anko and Ino thinking and then seemed to remember the way Ino had responded to his greeting. He hesitated a bit longer then shrugged and began going through the bag.

Anko glared at Ino as she ran a finger along the poison that now was dripping down Inos cheek. "If you ever call me an old lady again…I'll cut off this pretty hair of yours." She grabbed the ponytail and yanked, the snakes fell away and disappeared leaving Ino limp in Anko's grasp. "Got it?"

Ino tried to look away to Sasuke for help but he was still standing there with his eyes closed looking exasperated. "Sasuke…" She whimpered and then gasped as Anko tugged again.

"I'm close friends with your father little Ino." Anko whispered into Ino's ear and then moved to lick away the venom on her cheek. "Ask him what happened to the last ninja to call me old." She let Ino drop and headed back to the boys, making sure to wrap Sasuke into a big hug before bending over to talk to Naruto.

Ino looked up from the ground with a kicked puppy look on her face and Sasuke sighed before going over to haul her to her feet. "Go home Ino."

"But Sasuke…" She protested fluttering her hands indecisively.

He wondered if she was tempted to touch him to erase the 'taint' of Anko's touch and just shook his head. "We'll see each other the day exams begin." He turned away and heard her gasp and run off.

"That wasn't very gentlemanly of you." Anko grinned at him from her original seat.

He liked Anko, he really did, and he hoped if she and Itachi were in love, that they would be happy together. That did NOT mean he wanted to deal with her sadism on a regular basis. "Ino and Sakura both need to learn that I am not interested. Ignoring them completely didn't work before. Maybe indifference and rudeness will."

Naruto snorted as he finished sorting the seed bags. "Not likely. It will be as effective as me being unfailingly cheerful to them." He muttered to himself.

Sasuke reached out without looking and threaded a hand into Naruto's hair as he looked to Anko. "I do not want to date either of them. They need to learn that quickly." He turned away and knelt beside Naruto noticing the light blush on his cheeks as he muttered. "Or I might end up either killing them or myself." Again Naruto laughed lightly and passed Sasuke one of the larger bags. Sasuke let a grin cross his lips without struggle as he stared at the bag of tomato seeds. Naruto really was his best friend.

* * *

For the first time in what felt like years, Sasuke and Naruto both slept the entire night without waking. The foxes had followed them into the room and cuddled along the foot of the bed but since they had behaved all day and didn't disturb their nap, Sasuke didn't kick them out. He and Naruto had fallen asleep quickly and woken refreshed and ready to start their day.

It wasn't until they entered the kitchen that they remembered their new housemate.

Anko was leaning against the counter with a bag of take-out beside her as she munched on a stick of dango.

Sasuke stopped incredulous. "Did you go out to buy dango for breakfast?" He asked slightly disgusted. It was good and all but that ranked up there with Naruto eating ramen for every meal. Some foods were not meant to be eaten first thing in the morning.

"For myself." She responded with a grin.

_An eye roll, "Obsessed aren't you?"_

Naruto chuckled and pulled out plates and utensils as Sasuke went to the fridge muttering. "How did you sleep Anko?" He asked politely,

Anko nodded grinning. "I did. However, you might want to set up for four instead of two."

Sasuke paused the door still open. "Who is coming?"

"Kakashi and Sakura." Anko answered after a long pause that had Sasuke grinding his teeth.

"Oh yeah…didn't Sakura say she was going to be joining us for breakfast?" Naruto remarked thoughtfully. "I wonder why?"

Sasuke twitched slightly thinking of Sakura's appearance and the disaster of Ino's later that night. With a barely restrained sigh he got out enough for the four of them. He knew why Sakura was probably coming over. If her comments from last night had been any indication, she was interested in asking him on a date. But Kakashi? He had avoided coming into the Uchiha compound. He knew that it was because the Uchiha compound made him think of his old teammate, the one whose eye Kakashi held and who Naruto occasionally reminded him of as well. But he wondered…what was so important to Kakashi now, that he would risk the bad memories surfacing to come to breakfast.

"I'd only cook for three." Naruto muttered, leaning into his shoulder as he finished prepping the food.

"Why is that?" Sasuke asked pausing. Was Naruto not hungry? Was Sakura on the same…'diet' that Ino had been on? If he had to sit through her stomach rumbling all morning…

"Kakashi is always late. No point making him food when it will be bad by the time he gets here." Naruto laughed and gave Anko a wide smile when she choked slightly in laughter.

"Kakashi is never late," Anko began in a mock serious voice. "When food is involved." She told them laughing uproariously.

Naruto smiled his thousand watt smile and Sasuke rolled his eyes. Why didn't that surprise him? Food was halfway done when Sasuke nodded to Naruto to head to the door. "They're inside the compound."

Naruto nodded and trotted off to open the door for their sensei and teammate.

"I'm going to teach you and Kakashi how to remove the curse seal before the exams start." Sasuke told Anko when Naruto was out of the room.

She noticed the timing of the statement and narrowed her eyes on him as she pulled out another dango stick. "Do you not trust Naruto to know?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I do. He just gets very upset thinking about it. I'll teach him later, once the tests are over and Orochimaru is taken care of." Sasuke's voice trailed off thinking of when he'd told Naruto about getting the curse. He'd cried so hard and been so upset…there was no way Sasuke was putting him through another discussion about it, especially not one that would remind him of Sasuke's pain.

"You think he'll need to know then?" Anko asked leaning forward and pressing her ample breasts into his shoulder.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her gesture. He guessed Sakura was about to enter the room and she wanted to bait her like she had Ino. "You really think Orochimaru's followers will just stop when he's dead?"

Anko inclined her head in agreement with him point and glanced over when Naruto walked into the room. She met his confused gaze with a wink and he bit his lip to keep from laughing. He always did catch on quick. Sasuke wished he had the hands to plug his ears.

Sakura and Kakashi entered the room and for a moment there was shocked silence. Then Kakashi followed Naruto to the table, his mask covering the smile that Sasuke could see in his eye.

For a second Sakura only gaped then she turned bright red and sat heavily at the table beside Naruto, muttering under her breath. Naruto's eyes widened and he had to look away to hide the wide grin.

"**She said 'I can't believe Ino-pig wasn't lying. Dirty old lady is right.'**" Kyuubi relayed to Sasuke, his voice laughing darkly.

"What is this meeting about?" Sasuke asked as he turned to the table and began to dish out food, mentally laughing at the odd predicament. This much laughter was not what he expected when he'd thought of reliving bits of his life, but he absolutely loved that there was. Laughter had been something he'd missed out on. As he met Naruto's own laughing eyes, he amended that to they had both missed out on. At the sight of the pure mischievousness and joy in the blue eyes, he knew that he would do anything to keep Naruto laughing.

"The Exams start in two days. I will be training Sakura directly for those two days. Anko…will be working with you two." Kakashi told them, his visible eye crinkling with delight.

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose as Sakura jumped to her feet yelling. "WHAT?!"

Naruto peered over at Anko who gave him an evil smirk. He shivered slightly. "Any reason Anko?" He asked hesitantly.

She leaned back against the counter taking out another of her apparently unending dango sticks. "Orochimaru is likely to target you and Sasuke. As the one who knows him best, I am going to teach you some things you need to know." She glanced at Sasuke, she knew he'd come from the future, and probably knew Orochimaru better than she did, but they needed the excuse for the three of them to work together, privately, for when Itachi returned.

"You just want Sasuke to yourself." Sakura muttered. Her eyes slid to Naruto and there was a hint of confusion and jealousy in them. "You both do." She stood and stormed out without touching the food in front of her.

Kakashi stood as well, his plate was empty. "Girls are so emotional." He fled when Anko began throwing her used sticks at him and somehow managing to embed the flimsy wood into the table.

_A snicker, "I like to improvise."_

Sasuke sighed and took a bite of his food. "I'm going to be driven insane." He remarked blandly as he ate.

Naruto chuckled and finished up his own breakfast. He'd been eating and watching with a fascinated look on his face. "So what is the first task of the day?"

Anko grinned, "Avoid me." She pulled out a few kunai and began to count down from ten.

Sasuke and Naruto glanced at each other with wide eyes and darted from the kitchen out into the yard heading to the forest and the pond. No matter what Sasuke remembered, or knew he could do, his body was not trained as well as before he came back and he definitely did _not _have the speed he used to.

"If you can avoid getting seriously injured or both of you captured until lunch, you get to eat." Anko's voice came from directly above them and they split off to the sides to avoid the rain of weapons she unleashed.

'_Kyuubi!' _Sasuke called out in his mind, reaching the fox easily. '_Tell Naruto we should split up for a bit. But we should keep in contact with each other through you.'_

Kyuubi laughed darkly and relayed the message. He seemed to really like Anko's sadistic side and Sasuke heard him cheer as a shuriken grazed his cheek. "**Don't underestimate this one**."

'_I won't._' Sasuke smirked and began doing hand-signs only to vanish as Anko leapt at him once again. He watched from a few feet away as she fell through the leaves he'd traded places with only to bounce back into the trees with a wide smile. Apparently hide-and-seek was her favorite game. That didn't surprise him either.

He paused, his senses fanning out to see if he could sense where she'd come from next to think. It was closing in on ten o'clock now. They'd slept in a little today so they only had two hours or so until lunch. He dodged as a kunai flew towards his hiding spot and he was off again. It was probably going to be the longest two hours of his life.

* * *

Thirty minutes before time was up found Sasuke and Naruto standing back to back in the middle of the pond. Both had numerous scratches that bled sluggishly but there were no serious injuries on either one of them. They both were panting heavily and Sasuke was annoyed as one of his legs began to tremble slightly. He _really_ needed to start a more intense physical therapy. "Some of her clones are made of snakes."

Sasuke nodded. "A hold over from when she was with Orochimaru." His eyes kept glancing around, watching the trees, glancing at the skies, looking beneath the water. He knew that she was out there. They knew that Anko was waiting for the last few minutes to send something big after them. He and Naruto had joined and separated a number of times while they were running around in the Uchiha's forest and each time they'd gotten together, Anko did something larger than when they were apart, forcing them into teamwork.

Naruto had shoved Sasuke out of the way of an exploding kunai and Sasuke had yanked Naruto away from a Chakra filled wire that would have cut his hand off. They worked well together, Sasuke was happy to note, better than they ever had the first time through. They still teased and competed with each other, yes, but they didn't let it interfere as they once had.

"I don't think I like snakes very much." Naruto told him, his eyes looking at the same things but in his view. He had used clones to help distract Anko but it was a waste of chakra in this exercise. What he needed, Sasuke had explained when they had run into each other earlier, was a way to _suppress_ his chakra, not spread it further. It wasn't something that they had studied yet but Naruto found it to be easier than his control lessons had been at first he admitted. Sasuke laughed as he shoved Naruto down to avoid shuriken and said it was probably because he'd unconsciously been doing it for years when doing his pranks.

_A dream, "One day everyone will acknowledge me."_

They both turned to the dock when they heard a loud rumbling sound and watched as a giant snake came towards them. "Well, shit." Sasuke muttered, he grabbed Naruto's hand and stopped floating only to crash beneath the surface, dragging Naruto with him just as the snake lunged towards them.

Sasuke looked up and saw the large snake pass over their heads through the swirling water and it exploded into shuriken. He cursed and curled his body around Naruto as the shuriken began to shoot into the water after them. He felt Naruto's hands scrambling at his back and his body trying to twist away but Sasuke didn't let him escape his grip.

He felt a few of the weapons slice into his skin as he tried propelling them deeper into the water. He tugged Naruto along with him to the side of the pond and they crawled out of the water gasping for breath.

Right at Anko's feet.

She studied Sasuke's various injuries and the way his arm rested around Naruto who was uninjured and smiled. "Lunch time!"

* * *

**_Hi! Well I hope you liked this chapter as well! The next is partly planned out. Ino and Sakura are displaying a bit of their Fangirlism. I couldn't just let them be normal now could I? LOL I hope you think it was as funny as I did._**

**_Please review and give me any suggestions you have for character behavior. I'm trying hard to keep it all good but let me know!_**


	13. Foxes and Raccoons

**I am sorry it took so long! I rewrote the chapter a few times til I got it right. I also tried to make up for the wait by making the chapter a bit longer. I hope everyone enjoys!**

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* * *

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A harsh laugh,  
A desperate gasp,  
A blue glare,  
A careless wave.

* * *

Sasuke groaned as he sat tenderly at the kitchen table. None of his injuries were that severe, but they made moving uncomfortable. He watched nervously as Naruto dug in the refrigerator for food. Naruto and Anko weren't exactly….the best of cooks. He relaxed as Naruto pulled out something he was able to make that wasn't ramen and stuck it in the oven to cook.

Anko sat across from Sasuke tapping her nails on the table as she thought. When Naruto finally sat beside Sasuke she nodded decisively. "Speed and strength." She declared holding up a finger pointedly. "Those are your weak points. For your age, you are pretty advanced in this, but to defeat our foes, you need to be as good as someone _my _age."

Sasuke nodded, he agreed with that. He didn't think he'd built up enough speed to do a chidori yet. They were probably a few levels above the rest of the Rookie Nine but that _really _didn't say anything. It wasn't until after the Exams that anyone had gotten serious. For most of them, it had been a job they would do because of their families, not any real desire to be a ninja. But after the death of the Third…and the war that began, they had gotten serious. "How do you want us to train them?"

Naruto looked excited as Anko glanced outside. He sincerely loved to train and loved the fact that someone was actually wanting to train him. Kakashi may have neglected training all of them except in little things, but at least in the academy, Sasuke and Sakura had been trained. Naruto was usually ignored.

"You guys are planning on fixing up the compound right? Fixing buildings, gardening…that shit." She nodded at them when they nodded in agreement. "I'll put weights on you while you are doing that. Not little weights either." She grinned as the oven dinged and Naruto jumped up to grab their lunch.

"I get the feeling that we may randomly be attacked as well…" Sasuke narrowed his eyes on the sadistic ninja. He sighed however and didn't argue when her grin only widened. "Just don't destroy whatever we happen to be fixing."

_A harsh laugh, "It'll be fun."_

Anko waved a hand dismissively and took the plate Naruto handed her before wandering out into the yard muttering to herself.

"Should we be afraid?" Naruto asked handing Sasuke a wet towel to wipe the blood from his hands before eating.

"Definitely." Sasuke replied, nodding gratefully to his friend. "We should definitely be afraid."

By the time evening rolled around, Anko had created the weights she wanted them to wear. There were arm and leg bands, for upper and lower sets, weighted chest plates and shoes. The chest plate, shoes, and upper limb weights were going to be 'held off until you can dodge with the other four on'. Sasuke had simply rolled his eyes. She'd probably decide to make them wear them in the morning anyway.

* * *

Sasuke was going through one of the bags and handing things to Naruto to put away when he felt a new chakra signature enter the compound. It took a few seconds and then he jumped to his feet as he recognized Gaara's enraged signature. Shukaku must have spent the last day whispering in Gaara's mind because it was as crazy as Sasuke had ever felt. There was definitely going to be a fight.

Naruto turned, a tint of red in his eyes as Gaara landed in the yard beside them. "Hello Gaara." He greeted the redhead cheerfully. Kyuubi was hanging back, though watchful, wanting to see how it went.

"You're Naruto…" Gaara growled one hand touching his head lightly. "You have a demon as well."

"I have a demon." Naruto replied softly. "Do you want my help controlling Shukaku?" He reached out a hand in comfort and just barely avoiding having it severed by the spike of sand that shot up from the ground.

"He can't be controlled." Gaara spat out his hands, fisting by his sides. "Don't talk down to me weakling." The sand was rustling faster around him and in his gourd. "Just because you made Kyuubi a pet, doesn't mean-"

"**I am no one's pet, boy.**" Kyuubi's voice snapped from Naruto's throat and his stance changed from calming to arrogant as Kyuubi took control.

Sasuke stepped forward, wondering if he should break things up but Kyuubi's slight shake of the head made him pause. Kyuubi was smart, he wouldn't hurt Naruto, but Sasuke was not sure if it was the smartest thing for him to do, letting the two demons fight it out. Anko appeared next to him and placed a restraining hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

He glanced up at her face and saw the tense set of her jaw. It was the first time she had witnessed Kyuubi coming out of Naruto though she was aware by now that Kyuubi was conscious and talked with them. Yet, she was holding Sasuke back. She seemed instinctively to know that this had to be dealt with by Naruto and Kyuubi alone.

That didn't stop Sasuke from worrying though. Naruto was fragile, not just in body but emotionally as well. If he broke Gaara's mind completely…Sasuke doubted he would ever fully recover. Kyuubi's chakra began to rise and Anko's grip tightened. "We need to move back. We need to stop anyone who comes to investigate." She told him softly and leapt to the roofs. Sasuke gave Naruto/Kyuubi one last worried glance and leapt up to join her, letting his chakra flow into the buildings and walls of the Uchiha compound activating seals to ward entry to outsiders. It would only last as long as he kept it up, back when the compound was full, it was a duty of the people to work together to keep the wards up constantly, with only Sasuke there now, he rarely bothered. Though it was probably a good idea to spell Anko and Naruto into the wards for future concerns.

Sasuke turned his mind back to the two in front of their house as Kyuubi stepped forward.

(**A/N: While Kyuubi is in control, he will be called Kyuubi, same goes with Gaara and Shukaku)**

The sand reared up again but Kyuubi waved his arm and a blast of fire blasted it away. There was a tinkling sound as the fire turned some of the sand into glass and it fell to the ground. He kept moving forward and watched as Gaara's soft green eyes changed to gold and black. "**Shukaku…you need to learn your place.**"

"**We are no longer free demons, fox! I do not have to bow to you!**" Shukaku screeched, his voice trembling slightly as he threw more and more sand at Kyuubi. For as much bravado as he was displaying, Shukaku was terrified of Kyuubi. Sasuke wondered if it was because they had fought long ago and worried what Shukaku would do to Gaara in his attempt to destroy the fox.

"**You will cease this foolishness raccoon. Go to sleep and leave the child alone.**" Kyuubi growled, another blast of fire ruffling their hair.

"**Worried about a simple mortal?**" Shukaku laughed, "**how far you have fallen fox! There was a time when you cared for no one but yourself.**" His face settled into a scowl.

Sasuke felt a stab of fear clench his heart as blood began to slowly trickle from Gaara's nose. It looked like Shukaku was willing to kill Gaara rather than let Kyuubi take away his control.

Kyuubi threw up a ring of fire around Shukaku and darted close, dodging the spears of sand or obliterating them as they reached out to snag him. Sasuke was ready to cry out a warning as a spear moved in from behind when everything froze. Anko and Sasuke sucked in a breath as the fire cleared away to reveal Naruto with his arms wrapped around Gaara.

_A desperate gasp, "Help me."_

"Everything will be alright Gaara." His voice was low and comforting but it carried to Anko and Sasuke. Sasuke activated his sharingan to see what was happening with their chakra's and saw that Kyuubi's chakra was wrapped completely around Gaara and battling Shukaku's. It swirled around and around in a tempest and finally speared right through the center of Shukaku's , binding it more completely.

Naruto caught Gaara as his eyes slid closed and he sagged. "Sasuke?" He called out cautiously as he hefted Gaara's arm over his shoulder.

Sasuke felt shock slide through his body as he landed beside Naruto and helped take some of Gaara's weight. Kyuubi had done it. He'd bound Shukaku in such a way that the raccoon could no longer poison Gaara's mind without causing damage to Gaara himself and his power was still under Gaara's control.

Kyuubi had done more for Gaara than Sasuke had dared hope. But…he worried how Gaara would react when he woke up again and helped Naruto settle Gaara into another guest room. Gaara had taken years to gain control over Shukaku to the extent he had and then he'd died when the raccoon was completely removed from him. What would his state of mind be when he woke and Shukaku was silenced forever without his say-so? Especially when Shukaku had been the only one to pay any attention to him for most of his life…

Naruto yawned exhausted. "Did I do good?" He asked leaning against Sasuke as he yawned again. Kyuubi had been using large amounts of chakra to battle Shukaku without hurting the redhead.

Sasuke ran a hand down the back of Naruto's neck and rubbed it gently. "I guess we'll find out when he wakes. Go to bed Naruto. I'll watch over our guest."

Naruto nodded and hugged Sasuke lightly before going off to their room. Sasuke looked at Anko, who stood in the doorway of the room, and saw the same concern in her eyes though hidden deeply. She knew what it was like to be utterly dependent on someone, whether that someone was good for you or not. "We need to let his siblings know where he is." He told her quietly.

"I'll go." Her voice was quiet as she studied the pale boy on the bed. "Naruto…no, Kyuubi…did something really good here didn't he?" She asked after a moment. Sasuke knew what she was thinking: she knew the tales, remembered vaguely the attack on Konoha, had heard that Kyuubi was a violent, mindless demon, bent only on destruction. But…he'd told whatever demon the redhead had, that he had to free the boys mind. It went against what she had always been told Kyuubi was like.

Sasuke sighed and straightened the covers over Gaara's form and pulled a chair over to the bed where he could sit and watch over the boy. "Kyuubi freed Gaara's mind from the poison of his demon. Unlike Kyuubi, Shukaku is all greed and anger. He was a lower demon; they are less developed in both shape and mind. Kyuubi did a very good thing." Sasuke agreed, he was worried for Gaara, but it really was the best possible thing for him.

Anko nodded and disappeared out the door and soon after Sasuke felt her leave the compound. He lowered the wards so that she would be able to return and hoped that they would get no more visitors that night. He glanced at the door as it was nudged open to see one of the foxes glance in. "Can one of you keep an eye on Naruto and come get me if he needs me?" Sasuke asked the fox, ignoring how odd he still felt about talking to the foxes like that. The fox nodded and turned to yip at one of his companions then came in to settle in Sasuke's lap. Sasuke was startled but then began to pet him. "We really should name you guys." He muttered to himself as he studied his companion. He was the larger of the two male foxes and had a more reddish color than the others. One of his ears had a slight nick in it. "Do you have your own names?" He asked bending slightly to look the fox in the face and the fox grinned slightly before shaking his head. With a sigh Sasuke let his mind wander as he watched over Gaara and his hands gently pet the fox in his lap.

* * *

Around midnight, Anko returned to the house with Temari and Kankuro who brought not only Gaara's belongings but their own as well. "I'm going to bed." She scowled as she shoved the two teenagers into Gaara's room and stomped off to her room.

Kankaru began to unpack their belongings and Temari glanced around the room before nodding. "We'll have to find extra futons for in here." She declared then sat at her brothers side and touched his hand softly.

Sasuke yawned, too tired to care that his house was being invaded _again_. He'd probably care in the morning but for now, if they wanted to take care of their brother, it would only bring good things. "Kankuro, follow me." He said standing and settling the fox on the end of the bed. "Come get me if I'm needed." He whispered to the fox and led Kankuro to the foxes room. There were spare futons in some of the boxes. Not thick and soft like the normal beds but good enough if the Sand Siblings were determined to stay in the same room. They were only on the second floor of the house, which still had one empty bedroom beside Itachis. There was an entire floor above them not to mention at least twelve other houses in the compound, so if the Sand Siblings wanted room but to still stay together, they definitely had the space to do it. He helped Kankuro carry the boxes into their room and scratched the fox behind his ear before Temari shooed him gratefully, but firmly from the room.

He changed into his sleeping clothes quietly and slid beneath the covers beside Naruto before a frown marred his forehead. He had the room, but he didn't want six thousand people living in his house. Naruto rolled over and threw an arm over him and he yawned as he began to drift off, maybe he could move the Sand Siblings and Anko into the house across the street in the morning.

Despite his late night, Sasuke woke early, before any of the others were awake and changed quickly. The exam was approaching quickly and he had a feeling Itachi would be here before they began, which meant that Sasuke had to get the Sand Siblings out of his house as soon as possible. Itachi would be able to stay out of their way much easier if they were in a different house. The female fox looked up as he finished changing and he patted her head gently. "Tell Naruto I'm across the street when he wakes up." The fox nodded and Sasuke left silently.

Sasuke had had no aunts or uncles, if his parents had been anything other than only children, their siblings had died before he was born. But the Uchiha's were all related in some way and Sasuke had grown up calling every older member, 'uncle' or 'aunt'. The house across the way had been home to a family of five, one of the few Uchiha families to have more than one daughter, and they had once thought of marrying Itachi to one of their daughters as their youngest was only a few years older than him.

Sasuke thought about the family as he wondered from room to room opening windows and tugging off furniture covers. It wasn't often that he thought of any other Uchiha's beyond his parents and brother but he did remember this family well. They were cold, as all Uchiha's were, but the daughters, as full-blooded Uchiha women, had been spoiled and fawned over so much that they were haughty and cruel to others. Sasuke had often been a target of their scorn. Really as angry as he had been about the massacre before he'd learned the truth, he'd never really missed any of the Uchiha's except his mother and that only vaguely.

It was nearing the time they normally woke up when Sasuke finished a preliminary cleaning of the house and had managed to drag his mind back from the past. As he reentered his house, the female fox found him and nudged him towards his and Naruto's room.

Naruto was sitting on the edge of the bed, his head resting between his hands.

"You alright?" He asked sitting down next to Naruto and running and hand over his head.

_A blue glare, "I'm fine, teme."_

"Dizzy. I'm going to take a shower." He muttered. "Kyuubi said he used too much power yesterday."

"I'll make you some breakfast. Take one of the foxes with you so if you need help they can come get me." Sasuke carded his fingers through Naruto's hair, feeling him relax at his touch.

"I'd appreciate it." Naruto turned to smile up at him. "So how's Gaara this morning?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I haven't checked. Anko brought his siblings last night and I spent this morning cleaning out one of the empty houses for them to stay in." Sasuke said, helping Naruto gather clothes and towels.

"Good idea." Naruto nodded following Sasuke towards the bathroom. "When…he arrives, it's better for them to not be here."

Sasuke smiled softly, he loved that Naruto knew what he was thinking. It was the reason they were best friends, no matter what, they always understood each other. Naruto might not have liked that Sasuke had fled in his other life, but he had understood it. He waved to Naruto and headed to the room where the Sand Siblings were staying and poked his head into the cracked door.

"He awake yet?" Sasuke asked leaning against the door frame. He didn't think Gaara would be waking until at least the afternoon but he didn't know. Gaara, like Naruto, seemed to never do what others expected. Temari shook her head and kicked Kankuro awake from his futon. "I'm about to make breakfast. Also, I cleaned up one of the empty houses here. You three can stay there, it'll give you more room for yourselves and still be close enough that Gaara can find Naruto if he needs him."

Temari looked up startled. "We didn't mind sharing this room." She said carefully. She had a temper, Sasuke knew, and wondered why she was keeping it in check when he was ordering her around.

"I know. But there is no point when there are empty houses all over the district." He shrugged and turned to leave. "You can still eat over here if you prefer but take the house." He heard Kankuo, lumber after him and Anko already moving around the kitchen. He entered and shook his head in amusement; Anko had her bag of dango and was eating already, though she at least had set out bread and butter for others to nibble on before someone who could cook got there.

"I'm going to ask the Hokage to start giving me money to buy food if I'm going to keep making food for so many." Sasuke grumbled as he pulled out food to make. Today was going to be cereal, bread, and fruits. He was not going to bother with anything cooked that was for sure.

_A careless wave, "Sure, sure, whatever you say."_

Kankuro sat heavily at the table and stared at Anko's bag of dango. He slid a hand forward slowly and before Sasuke could warn him, Anko had a kunai standing up from the table in between Kankuro's outstretched fingers. "Do. Not. Touch. My. Dango." Anko smiled sweetly at him, her voice falsely kind though her eyes were filled with threat.

Kankuro nodded and yanked his hand back to his side. He wiped a hand down his face as he yawned and glanced up at Sasuke. "What you have to drink around here?" He asked, his voice only slightly sneering.

Sasuke pointed to the fridge with the knife he was slicing fruit with. "Whatever is in there is free game." He then pointed to the cabinet where the classes were and finished preparing the food. It was going to be a long day. He set out the food and wandered back to his room to pull on the weights Anko had given him. When he returned to the kitchen Naruto was sitting beside Anko and Kankuro had taken a plate of food and drinks into their room. Naruto was also wearing his weights and moving carefully so as not to waste any energy until he was used to them.

"Anko," Sasuke got her attention and looked towards the door to make sure the Sand Siblings weren't outside of it. "I'm moving Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara across the street. Can you go as well? I need you to watch them and make sure they don't cross Itachi's path once he returns."

Anko nodded slowly. "Alright, Sasuke. That makes sense." She frowned, "But if we get another jounin here as well, I'm moving back in here."

"That's fine." Sasuke agreed. If his suspicion was correct, and Anko and Itachi had been close, he could understand her wanting to stay closer, but until they had another guard on them, she was needed with the Sand Siblings. "Let's get them moved now, before Gaara's awake."

Naruto and Sasuke spent the rest of the morning moving the three siblings across the street and finishing the last of the cleaning. Kankuro left his Crow with Gaara to keep a watch on him and the foxes darted out into the woods to spend their day outside. Once they were all settled in, Sasuke dragged Naruto back out to the garden and they worked diligently beside each other as the day passed. Occasionally they were forced to dodge attacks by Anko but for the most part she let them work with their weights alone.

By the time dusk came, they were moving sluggishly, tired, and dirty. Temari ran out to meet them as they put away their tools.

"Gaara just woke up."

* * *

**Review! Let me know what you thought of Kyuubi's actions. Next chapter, things will be speeding up.**

**Don't be afraid to tell me truthful opinions and mistakes! I don't have a beta.**


	14. First Test

**Chapter 14**

**No poem thing this time, I will add it later. For now I just wanted to update. I apologize for the wait, school sucks as usual. Enjoy.**

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Sasuke and Naruto poked their heads into the room where Kankuro and Gaara were and entered when Kankuro waved them in, following Temari.

"How are you feeling, Gaara?" Naruto asked immediately, moving to the bed where the redhead lay.

Gaara studied the blond silently and then his eyes moved to Sasuke. "Where am I?" He finally asked looking at his brother.

"The Uchiha Compound. Sasuke is letting us use this house. Baki's got clones pretending to be us hiding in the hotel." Kankuro explained, handing a glass of water to his little brother cautiously.

Gaara took it gently. "Shukaku's gone?" He stated questioningly. His hand twitched as if he wanted to press it against his head to ward off the voice that was missing.

"Not really. He just can't talk to you anymore." Naruto smiled at the redhead, proud of Kyuubi. "Kyuubi put a…muzzle on him."

Gaara's face relaxed slightly, almost as if he would smile. But he just nodded in gratitude.

"Well, we will let you rest and talk with your siblings. If you need anything, Anko is down the hall and we are across the street." Sasuke said, noticing Temari's little twitches. He guessed she was anxious to talk with Gaara and see how he'd treat them now that Shukaku's voice was gone. He left followed by Naruto who gave them a friendly wave over his shoulder.

When Sasuke and Naruto left Gaara's room, they found Anko waiting in the hallway outside the door. "Message from the Hokage." She held out a scroll to them.

Sasuke and Naruto looked over the scroll and Sasuke felt tension gather in his shoulders. The exams were finally ready to start in the morning. The last of the participants, those from Orochimaru's Sound village, had finally arrived.

Baki had told the 'Kazekage' that he, and his team, were going to search out weaknesses as his excuse for their early arrival and it had been approved. He'd met up with his 'Kazekage' and 'Gaara', 'Temari' and 'Kankuro' were given their new orders.

"We should get to bed then." Sasuke murmured.

Anko nodded, "Don't forget to wear your weights tomorrow." She smirked at them as she ducked into the room she'd commandeered.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as Naruto leaned back into Gaara's room to inform the siblings of the next day's Exams. Then they headed back over to their own house and to bed.

As Naruto joined Sasuke in bed he looked over with wide blue eyes. "Are we ready?" He asked quietly.

"Of course we are." Sasuke scoffed snuggling down under the covers, enjoying his warm bed. Tomorrow was going to come way too soon and then they'd be sleeping outside for a few days.

"I hope you're right." Naruto murmured starting to drift off.

"I usually am." Sasuke replied, smirking softly. He watched as Naruto drifted off to sleep and for a few minutes, took the time to think of what was coming. The Third had told them about the traitors that had been 'discovered' and the names of those who had plotted against them. The Rookie 9, Team Gai, and Gaara's Team had been the only ones informed. Sasuke knew that there was at least one other team from Leaf, Kabuto's fake team, but he didn't remember there being any others. He knew that everyone was as informed as they could be using the theory that Baki had betrayed Orochimaru for tricking them. He closed his eyes as he let sleep claim him as well, ready for whatever may come. His last thought before he fell into the arms of Morpheus was that he hoped Itachi would arrive soon.

* * *

The next morning, Sasuke and Naruto left a few minutes after the Sand Siblings to meet up with Sakura at the bridge that had become a routine meeting spot and head to the place that would house their first exam.

"How was training with Kakashi?" Naruto asked Sakura giving her a wide grin, his hands adjusting the weights on his arms.

Sakura glared at him slightly before shaking off her anger. "It was fine." She replied shortly.

Sasuke and Naruto glanced at each other. Apparently Sakura was still upset she hadn't been allowed to train with them. Maybe they should ask Anko to train her later…privately. Sasuke bit back a smirk at the thought of giving Sakura to Anko. Sakura wouldn't survive intact that was for sure. "We should get going." He told them quietly, retreating back into the stoic façade he was known for.

Sakura and Naruto nodded, following Sasuke as he led them towards the building. When they entered te building they saw a number of genins standing outside a room with the label for the test room guarded by two leaf nin who refused to let the others in. Sasuke jerked his head towards the stairs when Sakura and Naruto paused in confusion. The first time Sasuke had made a big showing of calling out the two disguised ninja and revealing the genjutsu, causing others to be able to acknowledge that the classroom was indeed, wrong, but this time he kept right past, followed closely by Naruto and Sakura who snickered at those they left behind. He wasn't going to help them anymore than he had to this time.

"Do you think we should have told them?" Sakura asked after they found the correct classroom and reached the door.

"A part of being a ninja is to 'look beneath the beneath' or whatever it is Kakashi says all the time. If they can't tell that the room is mislabeled, then they need more training." Sasuke told her bluntly opening the door. "Especially if they can't recognize they only went up one flight of stairs rather than two."

"Ah! The beauteous Sakura!" A jovial voice cried out as Lee bounded over to greet them. Tenten and Neji followed at a more sedate pace than the hyper green menace. "I see you have arrived at the correct room as we ourselves did! How youthful of you!" He struck his nice-guy pose and Sasuke and Naruto began to edge away as Sakura's eyebrow ticked in annoyance. She didn't get to start in on him however as someone joined them.

"You guys sure are young to be here." A gray-haired leaf ninja chuckled coming up to them as Team Seven and Team Gai greeted each other. "I'm Kabuto."

Sasuke gave an imperceptible nod to Neji and Naruto who both glanced at him at the introduction. The Third had said that Sasuke knew what Kabuto looked like though omitted how he knew. This was Orochimaru's spy. He said nothing, however, as Sakura drew the man into conversation.

"Is this your second time taking the test?" Sakura asked looking up nervously at him as she saw the hostile gazes from the other older ninja's in the room. It was obvious that they felt it was insulting for them to be there.

"My seventh." Kabuto told her almost condescendingly. "The exams are held twice a year, so this is my fourth year trying." His eyes turned to Sasuke but Sasuke wasn't looking at him. He was pretending to study the others and keep an eye out for the other Rookie 9 teams.

"So you must know a lot about these exams huh?" Sakura asked looking hopefully up at him.

Sasuke held in a smirk at the innocent look on her face and strode over to the closest window to watch the clouds, pretending he was too good to listen to someone who had failed so much. Sakura was digging for information. She was always good with remembering the details and as the 'shy' one, it was expected she'd ask questions. He wasn't surprised that Naruto followed along with him, but it was a little surprising that Neji joined them as well. They pretended to ignore the other ninjas but they were poised to interfere if it turned ugly. Kabuto knelt on the floor and spread out cards full of information and began explaining, still in that grating condescending tone, what he could do with them and what information they could tell.

"Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, and Sound…many outstanding genins from the various Hidden Villages are here to take the Exam. Well…the Hidden Sound Village is a small village just created last year so there isn't much info but…the rest of the Hidden Villages are filled with talented youngsters." Kabuto explained as Sasuke held in the urge to roll his eyes at the way he was talking to Sakura and Ino who had joined her.

Sasuke and the others were quickly joined by Shikamau, Choji, Hinata, and Shino. Kiba joined his teammate, Ino, and Sakura, Lee, and Tenten as they listened to Kabuto telling stats on the others. He was describing Lee at the moment, Tenten and Lee curious as to what the man would say about him.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered as one of the sound ninja lunched at Kabuto.

"His information is too detailed for simple observation." Neji murmured to the others. "Out-dated, yes, but not information you should share about your fellow ninja." His eyes narrowed as Kabuto's glasses shattered but noticed there was very little damage otherwise. "He's a spy."

"So the Third tells us." Sasuke replied quietly, trying to hide the hatred he felt toward the traitor. If he had his way, Kabuto would die during the Second Task.

"Let's kill him during the Second Task." Naruto muttered, unknowingly mirroring Sasuke's thoughts, his lashes lowered to hide the flash of red in his eyes. Foxes suffered no traitors and Naruto would kill anyone trying to harm his friend.

Hinata gasped softly at Naruto's easy declaration of killing someone but said nothing as the other male members of their group nodded. Sasuke saw her force down the squeamishness and nod after them, a true ninja always killed their traitors to protect their village and family.

"Be right back." Naruto murmured and wandered over to Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. Those who knew of Gaara's homicidal tendencies flinched as Naruto approached and watched in shock as he 'introduced' himself and settled into a quiet one-sided conversation with them. None of those watching could tell what exactly he was saying, but they saw how Gaara looked away as if uninterested.

"What's he doing?" Choji asked munching slowly on a chip, his eyes looking around and counting the amount of ninja's and where they were from.

"Making sure Kankuo, Temari, and Gaara know who to kill." Neji murmured before Sasuke could reply. His tone held a touch of amazement at Naruto's forethought.

Sasuke had to hide a smile as he felt the proctors approaching the room. _Take that Hyuga! Naruto's not as dumb as you think huh_? He felt Kyuubi laugh in his mind in appreciation. Everyone always underestimated Naruto.

An explosion at the front of the room had everyone turning to look at the group of people who were suddenly standing there. The first test was about to begin.

"Thanks for waiting. I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the Chuunin Selection Exam's First Test." The scarred man in front introduced himself, causing a number of the ninja's to shudder. Everyone knew Ibiki was the lead torturer of the Leaf Village and that he was good at his job. He pointed to the Sound Ninja who had attacked Kabuto. "Hidden Sound guys, stop doing as you please before the exam. Do you want to fail already?" One of them, a slouching man with his face mostly covered began to apologize but Ibiki cut him off in disgust. "There will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be tolerated." He said almost negligently. Then his face hardened and he glared at those in front of him. "Those pigs that disobey me will be failed immediately. Do I make myself clear?"

A shudder slid through all of those in front of him except the Leaf ninja, Sasuke noted with interest. They knew to be afraid of him if they were on his bad side, but they also knew that he was one of theirs and they did not need to fear another Leaf. Sasuke and his companions kept their eyes on everyone, even as Ibiki described the first test to them. Naruto twitched slightly at the thought of a paper test but didn't explode as he had the first time he'd taken it. He'd been warned this time, though he still was nervous about it. As they all separated to their chosen seats Sasuke gave Sakura and Naruto an encouraging nod. He knew they could do this.

"There are many important rules to this First Test. I'll write them on the board while I explain. But questions will not be allowed so listen carefully." Ibiki started turning his back on the hundred genin ready to take their test.

Sasuke zoned out as Ibiki went over the rules but he saw Sakura twitch at the announcement that if one team member got zero points, his two teammates would fail and saw the glare she directed at Naruto's back. '_Kyuubi…tell Naruto I have faith in him.' _He whispered to the fox, seeing the tension building in Naruto's back. He hated written tests and almost always failed them. But Sasuke knew Naruto could do this, they'd gone over everything that could be on this test and assured Naruto that asking Kyuubi wasn't cheating, even though the point of the test was to see how well you gathered information.

Sakura was apparently still angry and Sasuke needed to figure out what to do about that. She had improved and seemed to have started backsliding since she learned that Anko was living with Sasuke. Why did she see Anko and Naruto as threats to their 'relationship' when he had no relationship with her beyond a close teammate? He sighed as Ibiki signaled for them to begin and decided that it could be dealt with when they were all stuck together in the Forest of Death.

Sasuke hunkered down and began to answer the questions on the test, only occasionally asking Kyuubi questions that he wasn't sure he was familiar with even if it wouldn't matter in the end. By the time Ibiki called their attention to the front for the tenth question, only a few dozen teams were left in the running.

"You must now choose if you want to take the tenth question. If you decide not to, you and your team fail." He waited for the noise to die down as people shouted that of course they would take it and crossed his arms in annoyance. "If you decide to take it and fail, you will never be able to take the Chuunin Exams again."

Silence met his words and Sasuke saw many eyes widen in fear. One by one, various teams quit and left, over a dozen staying though you could see the nerves floating off them in dark clouds. Sasuke met Sakura's gaze across the room and shook his head as her hand twitched. He felt relief pass through him as she nodded back and her hand curled into a fist. Gaara's team, all of the Rookie 9, and Gai's team were all still in the running with a few teams left from Grass, Sound, Rain, and Rock, plus Kabuto's 'Leaf' team.

Unlike the last exam, Naruto did not make his encouraging speech, he sat quietly, staring straight back at Ibiki, as the man watched him for some kind of reaction. When it was obvious no one else was leaving, Ibiki nodded.

"Congratulations! The fifty-one of you remaining have passed the First Test!" Ibiki said smirking at the astonished faces that stared at him. As he explained the reasons behind the test Sasuke felt Kyuubi stirring in the back of his mind.

'**Naruto was extremely worried. Did you know he was more afraid of messing this up for you and Sakura than for himself?**' Kyuubi asked him quietly.

Sasuke felt a small smile tilt the corner of his mouth and closed his eyes. '_I am not surprised._' He felt Kyuubi's muted shock and opened his eyes to see Ibiki take off the covering he wore on his head. The marks of torture covered the bald skin of his head and displayed the pain he had suffered to keep information of his village safe.

Sasuke closed his eyes again as fury filled him. Kabuto should have looked like that before he dared betray them. He listened to Ibiki and the questions that flew toward the strong ninja and knew that if anyone could tell them what a ninja needed to be, it was Ibiki. An idea popped into his mind and he let it swirl around and considered it from every angle. Eventually he'd need a new mentor, Kakashi only had one thing to teach him and he knew how to do it. Besides, it seemed that Kakashi still didn't want anything to do with him. Naruto was going to get Jiraiya and Sakura, if she lasted, was going to be sent to Anko if she was that jealous of the woman. But Ibiki…maybe he was a good choice to be Sasuke's mentor. He had not spent a lot of time with him and admitted that it would be a good idea to learn what he could from the man.

A crash made him look up as Anko made her grand entrance. Sasuke and Naruto both smirked slightly as they saw Ino and Sakura stiffen in horror at the appearance of their 'rival'. When Anko introduced herself, Sasuke felt a fiery determination fill his chest and he could see it in the eyes of his friends and allies. All hell was going to break loose now. It was time to weed out their enemies.

* * *

**Well? Review. I didn't want to do word for word everything Ibiki says because everyone should know what he says. I used an online scanlation for the direct quotes so if it is incorrect at all, blame the site I used. **

**Next chapter will begin the Second Test and will get a little bit gorey. I hope you enjoyed! **


	15. Second Task Begins

**Chapter 15 Second Task Begins**

* * *

A few minutes later the crowd found themselves standing outside a foreboding looking gate fence which encircled the 'Forest of Death', otherwise known as Arena 44. Its dark trees were tall and thick and covered in Spanish moss so thick and dark it looked as if the trees were shrouded in rain clouds. Anko lead them to the main gate where a stand was waiting with a few helping instructors before she turned to them with a decidedly malicious look on her face. Sasuke could tell she was enjoying the fear that some of them had. "Welcome to the stage for the Second Exam! Practice Arena 44; also known as 'The Forest of Death'. You'll soon find out why it's called that." She leaned over, placing her elbow onto Sasuke's shoulder and her breasts into his arm. Sasuke fought not to laugh as the death glares from Ino and Sakura increased. He knew she did it for two reasons. One, it annoyed the two young girls. Two, it kept her away from Orochimaru in disguise who Sasuke pointed out subtly to her as she leaned in.

He stared seemingly focused on the forest, his face slightly tightened in annoyance to keep up appearances. He could see the others letting their eyes roam over those they would have to fight and taking notice of the ones who would be the most trouble. He heard a few gasps as Anko stepped away from Sasuke to throw her arms around Naruto and hold up a packet of papers. "There will be deaths in this exam so sign these like good little children so I am not responsible if you don't make it, 'kay?" She asked cheerfully.

"What exactly is this test?" One of the Rain Ninja asked from the back of the group.

Anko smiled and cuddled closer to the back of Naruto's head enjoying the blush he gave at her behavior. Sasuke could hear Kyuubi roaring with laughter. "Good question! Simply put, there are a whole bunch of gates surrounding this arena. Inside there is the forest, a river, and a tower exactly 10 km from each side. There are 16 teams. Each of you will be set at a different gate and given one of two scrolls. To complete the test, you must have both scrolls and make it to the tower before noon on the fifth day." She grinned and held up examples of the scrolls. "8 teams will have a 'Heaven' scroll and 8 will have an 'Earth' scroll to pass your team must have one of each when you arrive at the Tower. You have five days to complete this exam." She tilted her head in a parody of adorableness and smiled. "Try not to die, okay?"

She wandered over to the stand to talk to the proctors there and Sasuke thought back to the meeting the other day. Baki and the Third had encouraged each Leaf team and the Sand team to gather as many scrolls as they could and then meet on the fourth day in front of the tower. The scrolls would be distributed then so that each of their teams would be guaranteed to pass the exam. When Hinata had questioned the fairness of these actions, it was Ino who'd replied first. It was not only a fair move, ensuring success of your allies, and a movement that other ninja's were going to undoubtably do as well, but if they were going to be betrayed by the groups that were in the competition, they didn't deserve fair treatment. Ino, as much as she was a Sasuke-Fangirl, had moments where she was definitely her fathers daughter. The five teams now had plans set up and cemented. Anyone who was unable to make it there by the deadline, noon on the fifth day when they were going to enter the tower, was to be considered missing in action.

A few minutes later, Anko dropped them off at their gate, the farthest one from where they had started, also the farthest from where Orochimaru's team was to be entering and with a wave and a wink she vanished. "Are you alright, Sakura?" Naruto asked cautiously, able to feel the fury barely held in check by their female teammate.

Their gate opened in the silence after Naruto's question and Sakura stomped off into the forest ahead of them. Naruto and Sasuke's eyes met in confusion before they followed after her without talking.

Ten minutes later even Kyuubi was stirring with unease. "**You know…I don't think it was a good idea for Kakashi to train her.**" He muttered in Sasuke's mind. Sasuke sent a puff of agreement and finally drew even with Sakura.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked stiffly.

Sakura paused and turned to him, her body actually trembling. "You…" She seemed to shrink suddenly and looked up with tear-filled eyes. "You keep leaving me out." She whispered to him. He and Naruto flinched knowing how true that was. "I want to be a part of this team and _Anko _is replacing me." She snarled the other woman's name.

Naruto tilted his head curiously at her. "The Third assigned Anko to train and guard Sasuke because of Orochimaru's focus on him. She isn't replacing you." His eyes widened at the look Sakura threw him at his input.

"What do you know loser? You were with her in stealing my Sasuke." She growled at him angrily. Sasuke knew she was lashing out in jealousy and anger and probably self-pity but he wasn't about to let her get away with treating Naruto that way.

However, before he was able to say anything, all hell broke loose.

A flurry of kunai flew down from the trees behind Sakura and Naruto shoved her behind him before knocking them out of the way as they came close. Sasuke blocked the leg that had been aimed at his head with his arms and kept his eyes on the third ninja just under the cover of the trees.

Their first attacker dropped from the trees by the still ninja and Sasuke's assailant broke off to join his partners. "You should have let us kill the whiny bitch. Her infernal noise led us straight to you." The lead rock ninja said, crossing his arms across his chest and smirking.

Sakura paled then flushed as her emotions went from fear to anger, but she kept her mouth shut for once. She simply pulled out one of her own kunai and kept her eyes on their enemies.

Sasuke shifted his stance as the third person pulled tags from his belt, ready to defend and attack. With no other warning, the ninja tossed the tags at them, triggering their explosions when they were close. Sasuke scowled closing his eyes as smoke and dust flew towards his face, using his other senses to place the rock ninja's and his team. He jumped high above the smoke when he felt the approach of metal and opened his eyes to look around. He could hear scuffling below him, and his own attacker was leaping towards him from across the clearing. He twisted to avoid the punch his opponent threw at him and flowed back around the outstretched arm to stab his own weapon into the man's shoulder.

With a curse the man jumped away and Sasuke let himself fall back into the dispensing cloud of dust and felt along his link to Kyuubi and Naruto. He felt Kyuubi's pleasure in the fight, no anger at being injured. Sasuke dodged another attacked and charged forward to where he felt the ninja standing. His burst of speed surprised him and Sasuke managed to drive his kunai into the man's throat.

He heard another thump behind him as the dust finally cleared enough for him to see his partners and spun, his eyes searching for attacker number three. Number three was suspended mid-leap, a kunai inches from Sakura's throat. Naruto stood over the corpse of the lead ninja with his weapon buried in the chest of Sakura's attacker. Apparently the two had attacked Sakura and Naruto at once and when Naruto had managed to kill his opponent, he'd managed to save Sakura.

"Are you both, alright?" Sasuke asked rushing over to check on them as Naruto let the corpse fall to the side.

Naruto looked at him with a small smile, relief obvious in his eyes at Sasuke's uninjured appearance. "Nothing serious." He replied, twitching one of his arms. He turned to Sakura, a worried yet wary look in his eyes. "You alright, Sakura?"

She turned wide eyes to him, away from the body of her would-be killer. After a moment of silence, she swallowed and nodded firmly. She reached into her hip bag and pulled out a roll of bandages and a bottle of water. She silently cleaned and wrapped Naruto's arm, apologizing without words for her behavior and showing her thanks.

Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes but was grateful she hadn't just gone back into the fight they'd been having before. He carefully searched the bodies, taking their Heaven Scroll, weapons, and their rations after having Kyuubi's nose and chakra check them for poisons and such. "What directions do you want to head in?" He asked the other two after throwing the last of the three bodies in a pile beneath the tree.

Sakura glanced up at him, then down as she packed away the last of her supplies. "The Tower is North."

"There's a river west of here that runs North and South." Naruto added, cleaning his weapons.

"Do you want to travel along the river or by trees?" Sasuke asked them, debating which was better in his own mind.

Naruto shrugged, he did not care really, Sasuke knew, he just wanted to either get their fight with Orochimaru out of the way or for it to never come. Sasuke's eyes softened slight and he brushed his fingers across the back of Naruto's hand in understanding when Sakura looked away in thought.

"River. Makes us more visible but it does the same for our enemies." Sakura declared looking back at them. "Also we have fresh water and a food source."

Sasuke and Naruto nodded and the three began jogging west, their eyes peeled for traps, animals, or other teams. He was glad Sakura had thought of why and which way they'd go. He knew she was intelligent, he just was waiting for her to know it too. She spent so much time being 'girly' to impress Sasuke, only she showed her brains in a book-smarts way. She would never be the strategic genius that Shikamaru is, he could plan an entire twenty move battle almost instantly and implement it perfectly, but she could think a few moves ahead and how things could change when she actually tried. He, unfortunately, had been unconscious when she'd had her awakening the first time. It had been very odd to come back to himself and find Sakura missing six inches of hair. It was also strange to see Ino and her getting along for the first time in four years or so.

They reached the river without incident and paused to wash the dust and debris from their battle away. "I wonder if the others have run into any trouble." Sakura mused, washing her hands.

"Probably a few." Sasuke murmured concentrating his chakra outward as invisibly as possible. He wanted to see who was close. A trio of chakra signals was travelling their way from the south and another trio from further west. "There are two teams on their way here. Both are suppressing chakra signatures so I am unsure if either are Leaf teams."

"Do we hide, move on, or wait?" Sakura asked a bit nervously.

"Wait." Naruto replied standing and pulling out a kunai. "If they are headed here, they know where we are." He froze as a though crossed his mind and a sly smile began to crawl over his face. "Hide." He put his kunai in his mouth briefly as he created three clones and had two henge into Sasuke and Sakura. The clones settled at the river's edge as Team 7 hid and suppressed their signatures. The first team to arrive was the Sound team that had attacked Kabuto. They watched the clones from the trees, waiting for some agreed upon signal to attack. Sasuke motioned for Sakura to circle further left into the trees and Naruto right into the boulders around the clearing. _They had to have been searching as quickly as possible and for us specifically for them to find us so quickly. _Sasuke thought to himself as he waited for his teammates to get into position. _At least this time it isn't just Lee and Sakura fighting them. Though…_Sasuke paused as a wayward thought crossed his mind, _things are happening in a different order from before. I had already met Orochimaru and been infected by the time this team found us. _

_**Focus, **_Kyuubi's voice slid into Sasuke's mind, _**you came to change things, do not be so surprised when you see the proof of your endeavors. It's time.**_

Sasuke nodded, grateful for Kyuubi's words because he knew the fox was right. He _shouldn't_ be surprised that things were different; it was after all, what he was trying for.

He winced as an explosion rocked the ground right in front of their clones. It _was _time. Naruto launched a handful of stones loaded with chakra out of the cloud of dust into the trees and the three of them heard a satisfying crunch as one of them connected with their enemies. The three Sound Ninja jumped down into the clearing around the river and stood back to back trying to spot them.

"Come out; come out wherever you are…" The taller boy with black haired called out, his hands loose at his side. Sasuke took a moment to remember their names…

Naruto snorted and winked at Sasuke, gesturing towards the clearing and pointing at himself in question. Sasuke nodded after a moment and slunk towards the trees to signal Sakura.

"You can't just tell us to come out." Naruto replied jumping onto the top of the rock he had been behind a second before. "That's not how you play hide-and-seek." Naruto scolded them waving his finger in a 'tsk-tsk' way.

The black haired ninja, Zaku, stepped forward and grinned. "But we don't want to play hide-and-seek little boy."

Naruto frowned in mock sadness before brightening again. "How about…tag?" He questioned and disappeared just as Sakura and Sasuke leapt from the trees, their feet slamming into their chosen opponents, separating all three sound ninja from each other.

Sasuke had taken the ninja covered in bandages that had the machine on his arms that sent amplified sound waves, Dosu, while Sakura had taken the girl, Kin. Naruto was left with Zaku. Divide and conquer.

Sasuke dodged Dosu's kick and came up inside the man's guard. He'd taken the opportunity to block his ears from all sounds, depending on sight and Kyuubi to protect himself. He felt the sound waves pressing against the plugs in his ear but turned his head sharply away from where the vibrations came from to avoid the punch that followed the move. The ninja managed to jump away from Sasuke but Sasuke quickly grabbed his long sleeve and twisted backwards and used his leverage to fling the ninja over his back into the boulders. A whistle from the side slowed the man's descent and Sasuke scowled as Zaku leapt to Dosu's side to help him to his feet. Naruto landed beside Sasuke and glanced over in exasperation.

_**Naruto says that his opponent did nothing, but dodge and block while keeping an eye on yours. He believes that his opponent believes yours to be the most important of the three. **_Kyuubi's voice filtered into Sasuke's mind and he nodded in agreement. From what he remembered and had heard about, Dosu was considered the more powerful.

Naruto created a few clones that he launched at Zaku and Dosu to keep them on their toes and handed Sasuke a giant shuriken. "Like before." He muttered and ducked behind Sasuke. Sasuke nodded holding the shuriken behind his back and pulled out explosive tags. He covered the shuriken in the tags and launched it at the two sound ninja who had their backs to him, followed quickly by the shuriken-henged Naruto. He felt the arrival of the other team of three and relaxed slightly when he was finally able to recognize the signatures as Team 10: Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji.

Zaku turned and sent a blast of air at the approaching weapon but instead of rebounding, it exploded and he and Dosu were forced to shield their faces and so missed the second as it flew through the cloud and Naruto slammed into Zaku, his henge breaking as he launched kunai and senbon alike directly into Zaku's face and chest. Zaku collapsed, dead, and Dosu roared in anger swinging his arm towards Naruto, launching a sound attack at the blond.

Naruto grunted and rolled off to the side, his hands coming up to cover his ears in a futile attempt to block out the painful sounds. Sasuke charged at Dosu before the man could make another move against Naruto and took a moment to hope Sakura was holding her own against the other girl.

Dosu turned to Sasuke, kunai in hand and swiped towards him, attempting to catch Sasuke on the edge of his blade but Sasuke was expecting it and was able to duck underneath. He had to jump back a bit however, when Dosu kicked upwards, catching the side of Sasuke's knee but moved right back in with a uppercut into Dosu's ankle, causing the joint to snap.

Dosu jumped away, growling as he was heavily damaged. "I won't let you get away with this." He pulled out a handful of explosive tags and Sasuke made a quick hand motion towards where Team 10 was hiding, hoping that Shikamaru would understand him.

As Dosu lit the explosives and moved to throw them, Sasuke realized that Shikamaru had. Dosu suddenly froze completely as the explosive tags continued to burn in his hand. His eyes widened in horror as they came closer and closer to exploding and Sasuke darted to move Naruto further away from the enemy. Sakura lunged forward from the corner of his eye, throwing the girl she had been fighting directly at Dosu. They all turned away partly as the two collided and Shikamaru released his jutsu just before the tags exploded, killing both sound nin.

Sasuke held Naruto loosely and watched dispassionately as Dosu's arm weapon rolled to a stop at his feet. "Sakura, you alright?" He called glancing over his shoulder at the bruised and bleeding girl.

"I will be." She murmured coming over and helping him drag Naruto away from the bodies toward the river. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji came out of hiding and helped them set up a camp, far enough from the dead bodies to not smell them, but still close to the water.

Once they were settled, Choji began to bandage Naruto while Ino helped Sakura and Sasuke moved back to the Sound Nin to go through their belongings. He found the scroll, gathered the few useful items they had before picking up the arm weapon on his way back towards the group. He tossed it to Shikamaru. "I'd be interested in knowing if it could be duplicated." He raised an eyebrow at the genius, who sighed and turned it over in his hands to study.

"Possibly." Shikamaru muttered, sitting to study it closer, seeing the challenge.

Sasuke sat beside him and watched the others members of his team. Naruto and Choji were now whispering intently together and though it looked like an important conversation, the few words that made it to Sasuke, made him recognize it's true importance. 'Chips', 'bar-b-que', and 'ramen' did not really scream tactical brilliance. Sakura and Ino sat quietly, occasionally glancing at each other and then at him. Sakura's eyes held less adoration then Ino's did. There was a cautiousness and sadness they'd never had before, at least in this life.

She was strong, of that there was no doubt, but…she wasn't ruthless. She, like Hinata, Iruka, and Lee, would rather incapacitate their enemies while the others preferred to take them out permanently. An injured enemy could rise to fight again, a dead enemy was never going to try again.

Sasuke signed thinking of Itachi's current companions. They were not ruthless, they were cruel and merciless. They would kill as slowly and painfully as they could. It was a thin line between ruthless and cruel, but Leaf Nin were taught to walk it carefully, firmly on the ruthless side. Even their torturers did no more than necessary.

At a movement to his side, he pulled back from his musings in time to feel Ino lean into him flirtatiously. "You were so cool, Sasuke!" She gushed, smiling up at him.

Sasuke felt his mind blank in horror at her closeness and behavior. He heard Naruto snicker at him and sent a glare towards his best friend.

Naruto grinned and jumped up to come over. He sat before Sasuke and looked up, his eyes wide. "Yeah, Sasuke! You were soooo cool!" He mocked Ino and pretended to flick his hair over his shoulder. Ino glared and Choji and Sakura laughed while Shikamaru ignored them all. Sasuke gave Naruto a grateful glance as he took Ino's attention away from him. He stiffened as he felt approaching presences and glanced up at the sounds of wings. A single raven flew overhead and Sasuke's heart skipped a beat.

"Naruto, help me gather wood. We are just going to camp here for the night." He announced standing. "Sakura, can you guard over our packs?" At her nod, he and Naruto strolled away into the woods. When they were out of sight of the others, he let his excitement show on his face and dragged Naruto off towards the faint pulse he felt leading him.

They broke into a small clearing not far away and slid to a stop. Naruto froze completely, eyes wide in shock and Sasuke felt his eyes tear up. Anko leaned against the tree, her eyes bright as they watched Sasuke and her companion stood relaxed beside her. His black hair was long and tied back though a bit fell forward to frame his face. His dark eyes were tired and wary as he looked at Sasuke but Sasuke saw the peace and happiness in them as well. Their eyes met for what felt like an eternity but it was only moments between them sighting each other and the man finding his arms full of a trembling Sasuke.

"Big brother…"

* * *

**Well? Did you like it? Was it worth the wait? School ends for me next week so the next won't take as long I promise! Personally I don't think the fight scenes were that great, I'm gonna need to fix them later. But did you like the end? Hehe!**

**Review!**


	16. Village Pride and End of the 2nd Task

**Chapter 16: Village Pride and The End of the Second Task**

**A/N: Time is going to be all…odd lol. By the time they arrive at the Tower, it will be the evening before the time limit is up though it might not seem to work that way in how the writing flows. I'll figure it out and fix it later. **

_**I am so sorry that it took so long for me to get around to updating. I'm in my last year of college which is Interning and Student Teaching plus I'm trying to plan a wedding and planning the moving halfway across the country I have to do after the wedding lol. Lots of crap going on in RL. BUT because I am taking so long I decided to do something special for you and take a little extra time so I could post TWO chapters at once. The next is already being written but I can't guarantee when it will be finished. I will aim to finish it before two weeks. **_

* * *

Sasuke felt his brother's arms wrap carefully around him and felt contentment fill him. His family was whole now. Itachi and Naruto were both with him.

"We don't have long. Orochimaru was sent as far as possible from your team but he is probably coming straight for you." Anko reminded them after a moment.

Sasuke stepped back a few paces, unable to completely hide his happiness. He'd killed Itachi before learning the truth in his other life and it had been one of his greatest regrets. He'd lost a brother who had done nothing but protect him, even when he hadn't known it. Being able to be with him again, without having to fight, without needing to fight, was amazing. "I missed you, big brother."

Itachi's face softened as he reached out to poke Sasuke's forehead. _I missed you, too, little brother._ He didn't say it aloud but Sasuke heard it loud and clear.

"We've defeated a Rock team and the Sound team that caused a fight during the first exam. One had an Earth scroll, the other a Heaven. Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru are at the river with Sakura." Naruto informed Anko. He kept his eyes on Sasuke and Itachi, however, and Sasuke saw a hint of fear in his friends eyes.

_**He's afraid Itachi will reject him and cause him to lose you. **_Kyuubi's voice whispered in his mind. Sasuke felt Kyuubi's annoyance at having to relay the information but Sasuke knew that it was more towards the villagers who made Naruto so cautious of others.

"Big brother, this is Naruto Uzumaki. He's my best friend." Sasuke introduced pulling the blond forward.

"Hello Naruto." Itachi greeted gently. His eyes carefully studied the blond and Sasuke wondered if he already knew of the fox and if he should tell Itachi that _he_ knew.

"I'm taking Itachi to the house to await you. We can't risk Orochimaru discovering his presence." Anko explained coming over and checking that both of them wore their weights.

Sasuke nodded and gave Itachi another quick hug. "Oh…and we have a few pets if Anko hasn't told you."

One of Itachi's eyebrows rose as Naruto giggled. "Pets?"

"Blame fox-boy." Sasuke teased poking Naruto's ticklish side. "Just um…introduce yourself to them and let them know we said you are alright. They run in and out of their own free will."

"Sasuke? Naruto?" Sakura's voice came from behind them and Sasuke bit back a curse.

"Anko can explain some things. I'll explain the rest when the second task is done. See you soon, Big Brother." Sasuke gave his brother one last look and he and Naruto ran off towards their teammate.

"Here, Sakura." Sasuke greeted her, exiting the woods to her left.

"We thought we saw another team's tracks." Naruto shrugged as they drew even with her and continued on towards the others. "False trail."

"You didn't run into any traps did you?" She asked glancing first at Sasuke, then Naruto.

"No, just a dead end." Sasuke replied. The rest of their walk was silent, randomly picking up sticks as they walked, and soon enough, they rejoined Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru. "You figure that weapon out, Shikamaru?"

"Yes." He grunted in acknowledgement but didn't deign to explain further.

"I'll keep first watch." Naruto volunteered out of the blue. When the others turned to look at him, he gave them a goofy grin. "I just wanted my bid in early."

Ino and Shikamaru rolled their eyes but for two different reasons. Choji munched on a chip while watching Naruto curiously and Sakura just sat down.

"What took you so long, Sasuke?" Ino asked flirtatiously.

"False trail." He answered shortly sitting down as well, Naruto between him and Ino, feeling he'd rather be next to Sakura than the blond. They relaxed in silence as the sun finally set and then each began to pull out either food for dinner or things for sleeping. They had enough rations among them for dinner and breakfast but after that they would have to hunt. Ino cooked up a quick meal, not exactly tasty but good enough since they were essentially on a mission and food had to be quick, not delicious.

Sasuke settled down beside Naruto intending to converse with him and Kyuubi as he slept. He didn't expect to run into Orochimaru until the next day at the earliest. The proctors had him entering at the completely opposite side of the Arena to delay his appearance to Sasuke. As his body fell asleep, he let his mind drift into Naruto's and sat in the water outside Kyuubi's cage.

"Tomorrow we'll head towards the tower. I figure we can get to the tower and loiter around the entrance to trap other teams and to make sure our teams get their second scrolls." Sasuke announced shivering as the water soaked into his clothing.

"Sound plan." Naruto's voice echoed slightly since it was a thought instead of his 'physical' presence in the room.

"Oh and Naruto?" Sasuke paused as Kyuubi began to laugh. "Please keep Ino away from me while I'm sleeping. I don't like the way she was staring at me earlier."

Kyuubi laughed harder.

* * *

The night passed without incident and the next morning the two teams quickly packed their belongings. "So we all head to the tower and trap it?" Ino asked trying to slink closer to Sasuke. She scowled as Sakura blocked her path and looking away pouting.

"Yeah." Choji agreed glancing at the irate blond. "Only use known village traps so other lead ninja's can see them easily."

"What about the Sand Team then?" Ino asked crossing her arms.

Shikamaru snorted and finished tying off his bag. "They know our traps and you're stupid if you think the three of them would end up caught in our traps."

Ino began to yell at him but Sasuke quietly agreed. It was really hard sometimes to believe that they'd really been this narcissistic back in the day. Shikamaru, Choji, Hinata, Shino, and Naruto had been the only ones out if the Rookie Nine to not believe they were the greatest thing since sliced bread. Sasuke recognized he himself had been like that but he'd forgotten so many of his comrades had been as well. Stupid superiority complexes. "We should travel the same way but not all together. If all six of us move together, our trail will be easy to follow."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement. "Fifty yards?"

Sasuke looked at his two teammates who gave him a nod. "Yeah. That's good. We should manage to get there before nightfall if there are no complications." He and his team waved to the others and began to separate before they started in the direction of the tower.

Naruto trailed behind them, watching their backs while Sasuke and Sakura ran evenly ahead. They saw marks of a previous team passing and quite a few animals but nothing to heed their progress.

They stopped for a brief rest and Sakura touched Naruto's shoulder as he came to a stop beside them. "Naruto…I just…" She looked away uncomfortable when he and Sasuke both turned to look at her. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you in the Academy."

Sasuke felt his chest swell with pride for Sakura. He wasn't sure she knew exactly what she was apologizing for but he was so proud of her for trying.

Naruto gave Sakura a wide smile that was only the slightest bit condescending though she didn't seem to notice, "It's alright, Sakura."

Sasuke ran his hand gently down Naruto's back where Sakura couldn't see and felt some of his tension melt away immediately. He knew that Naruto was hurt by the behavior of the village and that an apology wasn't going to make it better but he hoped that things changed for the blond. A loud crashing from their side had the three of them turning into that direction. A loud roar filled the air around them as a enormous bear leapt out of the forest in front of them.

Sakura shivered and stepped back a bit while Kyuubi reared up in Sasuke and Naruto's mind. '**Please…let me.**'

'_Only if you hide your chakra signature._' Sasuke replied as Naruto agreed and grabbed Sakura before dragging her back away from Naruto.

Naruto crouched, a hazy orange color seeming to cover him. If they'd been in front of them, they would have been able to see his whiskers darken and his eyes turn red. Kyuubi was in control.

Sasuke hid Sakura behind him and covered her mouth. "Say nothing." He whispered into her ear and she nodded as Naruto launched himself at the bear. Sakura whimpered as the bear took a swipe at Naruto's head and Sasuke grinned as the Kyuubi influenced Naruto huffed and ducked easily bringing up his claws to shred the bears arm into a useless lump. The battle was ruthless and bloody, Kyuubi was taking a lot of time to kill the bear, enjoying the freedom of being in control of the body.

When it was done, Naruto's arms were drenched in blood but a quick flick of his wrist and push of chakra and it all fell away. He turned slowly to look at Sasuke, his innocent blue eyes staying away from Sakura to avoid seeing what expression might be on her face. "Do we want the meat?"

Sasuke grimaced and was about to answer when Sakura did. "No, it requires too specific cooking which we can't guarantee out here." The boys turned to look at her. She was pale and wide-eyed but she didn't seem disgusted or overly frightened.

'_**Do we trust her**__?'_ Kyuubi asked for Naruto quietly.

'_She is our teammate…' _Sasuke paused then nodded firmly. _'I'll do it._' "Sakura, there is something we need to explain to you."

Sakura nodded and sat quietly on the ground her hands folded in her lap. Naruto leaned against a nearby tree, keeping his senses open for intruders while Sasuke talked.

"When Kyuubi attacked, the Hokage was unable to kill him. Instead he sealed him into Naruto. It is the reason that most villagers hate Naruto." Sasuke ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think of some half-truths to tell. "They believe that Naruto _is _the Fox Demon and that he is just as evil. That isn't true at all. Naruto is able to channel and control Kyuubi." He winced unnoticeably as the Kyuubi giggled at that ridiculous suggestion. "The Hokage knows, but it is a secret we have to keep from everyone else."

Sakura was quiet for a moment and then smiled softly and nodded. "Alright. I swear to keep it a secret as well."

Sasuke blinked and tilted his head, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You accept this…easily."

Sakura stood and scowled, her attitude coming back in full. "I may not be as smart as you but I was there that day on the bridge. I felt Kyuubi's power then as well. And while I may not have liked Naruto a lot, I know he isn't some evil demon." She turned to the blond and held out a hand. "I already apologized but I want the three of us to be good friends, a good team together."

Sasuke almost burst out into smiles at the pride he felt in him, but he was definitely not going to do that. It would ruin his whole image. Before he thought Sakura was apologizing on a surface level; just to make Sasuke and Naruto treat her nicer, but now he was sure she knew what the apology was for and meant what she said. Instead of going all sappy, he hefted his pack and turned north. "We need to keep going."

The other two grabbed their belongings and followed quickly after Sasuke. A little while later Sakura turned to Naruto, "You weren't serious about eating the bear meat earlier were you?"

Naruto chuckled softly. "No but did you see Sasuke's face?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and smirked. _What a surprise…_

* * *

They were about an hours travel from the Tower when they ran into the Sand Siblings as they finished off a trio of Rock Nin. He saw Sakura wince as they heard the sound of shattering bones and squishing fluids from inside the Sand Coffin but he and Naruto simply waited.

"Have you seen him?" Sasuke asked as they jumped down to their level.

Gaara nodded once and pointed towards the west. Kankuro took up the tale from there. "His teammates are dead. Some pair of twins that kept pretending to be one person. He retreated after that."

Sasuke blinked and chuckled. Trust Kankuro to still manage to be a part of killing that specific member of the Sound Four. He waved Naruto away when he glanced at him and Naruto bounced over to talk quietly to Gaara. Temari and Kankuro came closer to Sakura and him to give their little brother a little space. "Do we think he's taken himself out of the Second Task then?"

Temari nodded hesitantly. "If it were me I would. If the twins were a key part of his plans, he'll need to fix them."

Sakura crossed her arms and shook her head. "I wouldn't be so sure. He has a month between the Second and Third Tasks to re-plan."

Kankuro shook his head. "But he can't show off how powerful he is by completing the Second Task alone. How would he explain it?"

"That's true." Sakura murmured thoughtfully.

Sasuke glanced over at the two demon carriers and smiled faintly. Naruto was talking a mile a minute though quietly and Gaara looked annoyed but was nodding every few minutes. It was a much quieter way for Naruto to become friends with Gaara but it seemed to be working. "Well…the other Leaf Nin are heading to the Tower to take out anyone coming in and collect enough scrolls for us all to pass. Why don't we meet up with them and see if he comes by? No point messing up our plans without knowing what he's doing."

Kankuro nodded in agreement and hesitantly Temari and Sakura agreed as well. "In that case, let's find the scroll of this team and keep going."

Gaara glanced over at that and a tendril of sand rose in the air, an Earth Scroll in its clutches. "Let's go."

* * *

Neji looked up at them when they arrived and quickly looked them over in the dark. "Any injuries?"

It had taken them longer than expected to get there but it was early in the night still. They'd taken their time so that when they arrived, they wouldn't be exhausted. The other Leaf Nin were spread around a camp fire, small and smokeless. Sasuke shook his head as he and Kankuro wandered over to him. "No, we are all fine."

"How is the collection going?" Kankuro asked watching Temari and Sakura join the others around the fire while Naruto trailed after Gaara. "It's like a puppy…" He murmured.

Sasuke chuckled quietly. "He's determined to be friends with him."

Kankuro smirked and Neji turned to look at what they were discussing. "Total, the three teams here before you guys joined us, we had three Heaven and Two Earth Scrolls. What about you guys?"

"We have a Heaven and an Earth." Sasuke replied and Kankuro nodded.

Neji nodded and glanced at the large group before sighing. "I think that my team should forfeit this task."

"What?" Sasuke reared back to look at Neji in shock.

"It will look suspicious if every team in Leaf gets through and no others. Also," Neji paused and pursed his lips and scowled. "If they are attacking the Village, it wouldn't be the best idea for us all to be in the Third Task. I know the Hokage will have his ANBU around the village but they won't be told the details we will be. I think at least one team should be able to help them who know what is going on." He shrugged and looked at his teammates. Lee was talking to Sakura and Tenten was talking to Temari. "I think we are more likely to be listened too as well if we need to help."

Sasuke sighed but nodded in agreement. "You are probably right. I just don't like the thought of you guys missing out on…" He paused and scrunched up his eyebrow.

"Yeah," Neji chuckled, "that's why I was willing. We are not really in this competition for the promotion. We are in it for the Village. If all goes well, we'll all get one anyway."

Sasuke nodded and sighed. "If that's what you and your team want to do. It's up to you guys. It is probably a good idea however."

"We have four teams here going onto the second task then. The ones we took out, we incapacitated and took the scrolls." Neji admitted.

"We killed two teams." Sasuke admitted callously.

"We got one." Kankuro shrugged. "I think the others avoided us."

"So that's nine scrolls of the sixteen, which means there are seven more are out there. We have four complete sets and one odd one." Neji calculated quickly. "Is it worth trapping the last people coming in?"

"No." Shikamaru's voice was a surprise as he joined in the conversation. "By sticking around, we increase the chances of someone surprising us and taking out one of the teams. We need people to be in the Third Task besides us. If we set traps, I say we set them and then go in. Don't wait around. Especially if Neji's team is going to fail out."

"Why don't we vote?" Neji suggested. "That way, none of the others can make problems over it later." He looked at Ino and Sakura pointedly and the others chuckled slightly. Sakura was improving but Sasuke had no doubts if it came down to it, she and Ino could get into it like nothing else. They wandered over to the others and Naruto and Gaara moved close enough to hear the conversations.

Surprisingly, the only person to object to Neji's plan was Hinata. She blushed heavily when he turned to look at her in surprise and simply stated that it wasn't fair to their team. Sasuke smiled softly, Hinata loved her cousin, no matter how Neji currently felt about her. In the end though, they set traps along the tower and then settled for the night, ready to continue in the morning.

* * *

Sasuke woke in the middle of the night to hear the sounds of fighting a few yards away. He leapt to his feet and peered into the darkness to the far end of the camp ground where they were all sleeping. Everyone woke within minutes of each other and gazed out, waiting for some indication that they were needed. Minutes passed and then Neji came strolling from the darkness, Lee and Tenten following behind him. Lee looked hyper, Tenten content, and Neji looked like the cat who got the canary. A body was being dragged behind them. Everyone jumped to their feet and ran over to see who was being dragged into the clearing.

Sasuke's lips curled into a wicked smile and he looked up at Neji who looked more smug by the second. "If it were up to me, Neji, I would be giving you that promotion right now. You too, Lee, Tenten." He smirked down at Kabuto's dead body and felt complete satisfaction that the man who'd played such a large part in his other life and made him so miserable, was dead and unable to help his master.

"We'll reset the traps." Hinata smiled softly at her cousin and wandered back to the area to fix what had been triggered in the fight.

Lee dragged the body away, displaying his muscles as he passed by Sakura and giving her a million watt smile and Tenten rolled out her sleeping bag. "Good night all."

The others drifted back to sleep and to their look out spots for those to remain awake and Sasuke nodded gratefully at the Hyuuga before he left. The Hyuuga and Uchiha had in the past, been great rivals, but no more. They were Leaf Nin and it was about time the group of them acted like it. The Village came first.

* * *

The next morning the four continuing teams entered the Tower main room, while Team Gai wandered into a side room to wait out the time limit.

The Four teams opened their scrolls simultaneously and stared in surprise as Baki and Iruka popped into place before them.

"Hey guys!" Iruka greeted his students cheerfully while Baki nodded in greeting to his. "This is the end of the Second Task. You were tested not only on survival, but your ability to perform missions correctly and follow orders given to you. The main one being, 'do not open these scrolls'. And remember, the motto of the Chunnins is: 'If you lack Heaven, seek wisdom and be prepared. If you lack Earth, run in the fields and seek advantages.' Gain knowledge and train hard." He smiled widely at them all. "I am very proud of you all."

"I'm a bit surprised you all reached here at the same time though." Baki murmured, glancing around. "One team arrived earlier but other than them, you're still early. There is until tomorrow evening for others to finish."

"What do we do until then?" Kiba asked scratching Akamaru's head gently through the dirt covering him.

"There are showers to wash, a cafeteria, and rooms to sleep. Take your pick." Iruka shrugged.

"Shower!" Ino, Sakura, Kiba, Temari, and Hinata decided.

"Cafeteria." Chouji, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kankura groaned.

"Sleep." Shikamaru and Shino shrugged.

Gaara simply followed his brother and Naruto into the cafeteria when Baki lead them there.

"What progress?" Baki asked quietly as they sat at a table with their food. The other team that had made it was somewhere else at the moment.

"We ran into Orochimaru and took out one of his major players." Kankuro replied quietly.

"We took out one of his special teams." Sasuke looked down at his plate of food and thanked whoever was cooking that they were much better at it than Ino. "Neji killed Kabuto."

"Gaara, how are you doing?" Baki asked softly of the red head sitting across from him.

Gaara blinked slowly and focused back on his teacher. "Fine."

Sasuke saw the slight smirk that passed Gaara's lips at Baki's dumbfounded expression and leaned into Naruto at his side. "You've done wonders."

Naruto smiled slightly, "He just needed someone to not ignore him." He glanced around the room and then tilted his head towards the door. "Let's go wander."

Sasuke blinked but agreed and the two of them said their goodbyes to the others before wandering from the room. They wandered into a long hall with columns and Naruto tugged him over to a darkened section on the wall and sat down. "What's up Naruto?"

Naruto shrugged. "We haven't had a lot of time to talk since the Tasks started." He fidgeted slightly and Sasuke felt a small smile tug his lips at Naruto's desire to spend time with just him, it gave him a warm fuzzy feeling.

"What shall we talk about today?" Sasuke pondered sliding to the floor beside Naruto and leaning his arm on an upraised knee. "How about…if we weren't ninja, what would you want to do?"

Naruto laughed softly and leaned closer to Sasuke as he thought. "I'd normally say cook ramen but I think I'd have trouble not eating it." Sasuke laughed with him and felt tension from the last few days drift away. It was so relaxing to be with Naruto like this. He didn't have to hold any of himself back, Naruto knew everything about him. "I think…I'd be a gardener."

"Why's that?" Sasuke asked. He knew from before the second task that Naruto liked plants and gardening but they'd never really talked about why. He'd just seen the passion in his eyes that showed his love of it.

Naruto looked vaguely uncomfortable for a moment then sighed. "When I was really young, before the Third gave me that apartment, I was in the Orphanage. Oftentimes, the children or the Matrons would kick me out at night so I had to sleep in the woods. It was always comforting to me. It smelled better in the grass and the ground was softer than the bed they made me sleep in when I wasn't thrown out. I guess…I see nature as my family, my home, more than anything else." He laughed softly. "Kinda sad, huh?"

Sasuke leaned over and wrapped his arm around Naruto and tugged him close. "Just a little bit." He smirked at the chuckle he wrung out of Naruto at his comment. "I understand though. It's not like I had a lot of people to be my family once the Uchiha were gone." He hummed slightly and ran his hand absentmindedly through Naruto's soft hair. "Then again, except for Itachi, I didn't have much of a family before they were gone."

Naruto patted his leg softly at his words and decided to change the subject. "What would you be?"

Sasuke blinked and looked up at the ceiling as he thought. "That's a good question actually. I think…a craftsman."

"Why?" Naruto asked looking up curiously.

Sasuke flushed lightly at a warm tingle in his chest and looked away from Naruto's blue eyes as he felt Kyuubi chuckle. "I like the thought of making things with my hands. I think I'd do either weapons or glass."

"Glass?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Yeah…the process of making glass is pretty amazing. You have to have fine control and purpose to what you do." Sasuke shrugged lightly. "I think I can get stuff together to show you sometime."

"If you can I'd love to see." Naruto admitted smiling up at him.

He yawned and Sasuke stood tugging him to his feet. "Let's get some sleep."

* * *

The next day was rather anticlimactic. They washed up, cleaned their gear and ate, simply waiting for the time limit to be up. Sakura joined Sasuke and Naruto for some team bonding and when they were alone, asked questions about Kyuubi. They left the details of his consciousness out of the conversation however, telling her that the feared Kyuubi was actually alive and able to think and at times control Naruto, was probably not a good choice.

The three of them were sitting in a lounge area with the other teams when Iruka stuck his head in. "One other team came in and the time limit is up. Everyone is to gather in the meeting room. Follow me please." Silently they trailed behind Iruka and joined the others who passed in a line before the Hokage and the Task proctors.

"Congratulations on passing the Second Task. The first task was a test of your information gathering skills. The second was a test of your survival and team skills. This last task will be a test of your individual skills. You will have a month to train yourselves and when you return, each of you will be given a different challenge. You will be graded on not only completing this challenge, but how well you perform, the time it takes you, and similar things. Congratulations." The Hokage repeated and with an inclination of his head, poof-ed out of the Tower.

Sasuke and the others were all grabbed and poof-ed to the area right outside the Forest and left alone to find their ways back home. With a nod at the three Sand Siblings who were headed to the house that Sasuke had lent them, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura turned in the other direction. "Food?" Sasuke asked the other two and they nodded in agreement, their minds filled with thoughts of the final task while Sasuke thought about what he would talk with Itachi about when they returned home.

They'd just reached the food stand when Anko popped up beside them and grabbed Sakura's arm. "Congrats on getting this far. I'll be training you this month. Let's go." She dragged her off before Sakura could do more than drop her jaw in horror and the two boys were left in the dust.

"Well…" Sasuke started unsure how to put into words what he was thinking.

"Yeah. I didn't think it would actually happen when I wished Anko would train her." Naruto quipped, smiling at him. "Let's just get home." His eyes sparked with the knowledge that Sasuke was anxious to see his brother.

Sasuke _was_ anxious but he took a moment to feel pleasure that Naruto referred to their house as 'home'. It had taken a long time to get there and Sasuke was happy for it. "Lets." He took a moment to run his fingers down the back of Naruto's hand and the two of them ran off back to the Uchiha Compound, towards home.


	17. Special Training

**Chapter 17: Special Training**

* * *

Itachi was waiting for them in the kitchen when they reached the house and set out two glasses of tea for them. He was silent as Naruto took a small sip with a grateful smile and then excused himself, taking both his and Sasuke's bags with him.

"How are you, big brother?" Sasuke asked quietly, his eyes taking in the lines on his beloved brother's face.

"I'm alright. Anko did not tell me much. Only that you now knew the truth and the Third wanted me to come home to help with an invasion." Itachi answered meeting his brothers' eyes. "Want to tell me what happened?"

Sasuke twirled his cup in his hand and looked around the kitchen briefly before nodding. "It's a little hard to believe…"

Itachi shrugged. "I still want to know."

Sasuke took a deep breath and nodded. He could feel Naruto leaning on the wall outside of the room, he was grateful both for the blonds support and for his distance. He understood that Sasuke wanted to talk to Itachi alone, but wanted to be close enough that if he was needed, he could be there. "Okay…well. This is going to be really hard to believe, big brother, but I swear I am telling the truth." He paused to study the emotion that his brother wore to look at him. "Though I am only twelve, I remember living twenty years. Unfortunately, the life that I led, I made a lot of mistakes, a lot of bad decisions and it cost the lives of the entire village and of you. When Naruto…died, I released the Kyuubi on the attacker and once dead, the Kyuubi used a Forbidden Jutsu to bring my consciousness back to his time so that I could fix those mistakes and continue to protect Naruto."

Itachi's stoic face was…stoic but his eyes were bright with curiosity. "The Kyuubi…?"

Sasuke nodded and glanced at the door as Naruto walked into the room. He sat hesitantly next to Sasuke and met Itachi's eyes. "Kyuubi has always talked to me though I did not know what or who he was at first. He's just been there. When I was a child, I thought I was crazy, hearing voices, but I didn't really care since I felt less alone."

Sasuke ran a hand down Naruto's back in comfort and looked at his brother. "Kyuubi, while still a very vicious demon, has a soft spot for Naruto. I promised to protect him. I failed once and Kyuubi sent me back to fix that."

Itachi looked at Naruto steadily. "Can I talk to Kyuubi?"

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes. "I don't know how Sasuke gets into my head to talk to him but I can…" His whiskers deepened slightly and when he reopened his eyes, they were a soft red color as he looked back at the older Uchiha. "**Hello Uchiha.**"

"Kyuubi?" Itachi asked leaning forward, his own black eyes bleeding red.

"**Correct. What is it you wish to speak with me about?**" His voice was scathing and condescending. Sasuke fought a smile, Kyuubi liked Naruto and Sasuke, barely, it seemed sometimes, but he did. He apparently didn't care for Itachi though.

"Are you going to harm them?" Itachi asked calmly.

Kyuubi's eyes narrowed and then blinked out to blue. "He said try not to be stupider than a human can be." Sasuke sucked in his breath, curious as to what Itachi's reaction was going to be. Though he loved his brother, he was a very serious man.

Itachi's eyes narrowed and then glanced at his brother. "Who is training you this month?"

Sasuke met his eyes with a deadpan expression. "You."

Itachi began to smirk and nodded in agreement. Then glanced at Naruto. "Who is going to train you?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'll go talk to the Hokage in the morning and ask him." Sasuke growled beneath his breath and Naruto reached over to link their fingers before standing and moving to the fridge to start dinner for the three of them. "Are we feeding the Sand Siblings?"

Itachi answered quietly, continuing to stare at Naruto's turned back. "No. The Hokage came by and explained everything to their trainer and Baki will be taking care of them." He turned back to Sasuke with a raised eyebrow. "Explain."

"Kakashi…Kakashi didn't do much training with us." Sasuke told him quietly. "We haven't talked much since we returned home from our last mission."

"Do you want me to train you Naruto?" Itachi asked as Naruto set down a bowl of fruit before moving back to the vegetables he was slicing.

"No. Concentrate on training, Sasuke. We all need as much training as possible." Naruto turned to meet his eyes. "If the old man can't find someone to train me, I'll get Kyuubi to do it." He threw the vegetables into a frying pan. "He assures me he can."

Sasuke stood to gather plates and utensils, pausing to touch the back of Naruto's hand in comfort. "We'll get you trained, Naruto."

There was a knock on the door and Sasuke swung around, his forehead crinkling. Who would be dropping by today? With a sigh he glanced at Itachi and Naruto and made his way to the door. The Third stood on the other side with a tall, thick white haired individual with him. "Hokage." He greeted and studied the old man beside him.

"Sasuke. This is Jiraiya, one of the Sannin." Sarutobi introduced and with an imperceptible nod, showed that the man knew of Itachi.

Sasuke felt a little bit of annoyance at that but stood back to let them in. For someone who told them that they needed to keep Itachi's presence quiet, the Third was definitely telling a lot of people. Anko, Baki, the Sand Siblings, Jiraiya… "What can I do for you gentleman?"

"Jiraiya is going to train Naruto." Sarutobi replied following Sasuke into the kitchen.

"Don't you think you should ask Naruto before shoving a stranger onto him?" Sasuke asked a little coldly.

Naruto looked up at the three people entering the room and gave a nod to Sarutobi before finishing the last of the cooking and placing the bowl of stir-fry on the table.

"Naruto, this is Jiraiya. I have asked him to train you in preparation for the Final Task and the battle." Sarutobi sighed heavily sinking into a chair at the table. Jiraiya nodded a greeting to the older Uchiha before slouching in his own chair.

Naruto sat beside Sasuke, his plate of food steaming slightly as he watched the old man and the…old man. "Isn't he the guy who writes porn?"

Sasuke snickered into his food and Itachi's lips twitched. Sarutobi and Jiraiya's jaws dropped. "You are too young to be reading that!" Jiraiya yelped.

Naruto snorted and looked over slightly disgusted but Sasuke could see the mischief in his eyes. "I haven't read them. Our teacher reads them in front of us all the time."

Sarutobi pulled his hat down slightly over his face to hide his grimace. Only Kakashi would read porn, good porn though it might be, in front of young children.

"And I think I remember you hanging out by the women's bath when I was younger."

Sarutobi groaned and was extremely tempted to bang his head on the table.

Jiraiya cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yes…well…"

Sasuke snickered beneath his breath as Naruto's mischievousness made the two older men uncomfortable.

"What are you going to be training me in?" He asked suddenly serious.

"Sage techniques and summoning." Jiraiya answered, happy to change the direction of the conversation.

Naruto blinked suddenly, a hint of red flashing quickly through his eyes. "What are you going to teach me to summon?" He asked curiously, leaning forward intently. Sasuke was surprised at the sudden concentration on Naruto's face and wondered at where his thoughts were.

"Toads, but I can show you how to create summons if you want to make your own I suppose." Jiraiya answered his eyebrow raised in curiosity.

Itachi smirked and Sasuke followed his example. Naruto was going to create a summon to bring out Kyuubi, at least for short periods of time.

Sasuke frowned suddenly remembering something. "Why are _you _to train him?"

Sarutobi made an aborted movement with his hand when Jiraiya answered immediately. "Well, I trained his father so…" He shrugged with a wide smile.

The mischievous and sly look dropped from Naruto's face as he turned to the older man. "You know who my father is?"

Jiraiya's smile shrink slowly from his face as he looked at the blond child in front of him. "Of course I do." He frowned and turned to look at Sarutobi who was hiding his face. "Do you mean…you don't?"

Naruto shook his head and Sarutobi sighed. "It was…safer for Naruto to remain unaware of his parents identities." Sarutobi looked apologetically at the small boy and then at Itachi and Sasuke. "You saw how the villagers treated him. It is my belief that if they knew who Naruto's parents were, if he knew, then it would be worse for him."

Jiraiya shook slightly with anger as he turned his back on the Hokage and pointed a finger at Naruto. "Are you a hard worker? Do you want to succeed and be the best?" Naruto nodded to both questions and Jiraiya folded his arms. "I'll tell you the identity of your father once you master one technique."

"What technique is that?" Naruto asked leaning forward excitedly. Sasuke could see the drive build in his eyes and smiled slightly.

Jiraiya smirked and puffed up his chest. "A wonderful technique, a technique that only one person living is able to do, the Rasengan!" (**A/N: I believe that Kakashi is able to use this later in the series, but we are going to let Jiraiya have his little delusions ****.)**

Itachi raised an eyebrow at his little brother and saw Sasuke's small nod. Sasuke knew that not only does Naruto learn the Rasengan, he perfects it. "I'll be training my little brother." Itachi intoned looking down his nose at the Hokage.

"Shall we begin in the morning?" Jiraiya asked standing slowly.

The two young boys nodded and waited for their guests to leave before Naruto sighed and put his dishes in the sink. "I'm going to work on the garden." He muttered and left through the kitchen door.

Sasuke sighed and rubbed his forehead tiredly. Then he looked at his brother and smiled softly. "It's good to see you brother."

Itachi nodded slightly at him, a soft look in his eyes. "You are upset."

"There are lots of little things that I remember, like who Naruto's father is, but because I remember it, I forget that others don't." He fiddled his fingers briefly then straightened. "I'm not perfect." He repeated, his voice calm and collected. He'd had to repeat that to himself so many times. He had thought he had to be, needed to be perfect and it had taken him a long time to accept that not only was he _not _perfect, but it was okay for him to not be.

Itachi touched a gentle hand to his brothers shoulder and started from the room. "We begin at dawn, little brother."

Sasuke sighed and nodded firmly. "I'm not perfect." He murmured once again and then stood to head to bed. The morning would come soon enough and he wanted to rest while he could.

* * *

Training, no matter who trained you, was a pain in the ass. The first night back from the Tower, Sasuke held Naruto while the boy cried himself to sleep and apologized over and over for not telling Naruto his father's identity earlier. Naruto didn't blame Sasuke, he wasn't even really sad, but rather excited, frustrated, confused, and lonely and a whole bunch of other emotions. When Naruto had finally fallen asleep, Sasuke had followed right after; their foxes returned from their hunting and curled up around their legs.

Naruto and Sasuke saw each other every night, at least briefly, before falling asleep but other than that, they were too wrapped up in their own training. However, at the end of every week, all trainers and students and the Hokage would meet to discuss progress and tactics. The Hokage met with his regular fighters during the week and got updates then as well.

Sasuke was making much quicker progress now than he had before; both because of having the knowledge already in his mind and because of having Itachi, another who understood the Uchiha chakra, to train with. When the day came for Sasuke to relearn how to summon, Itachi and Jiraiya taught him and Naruto together.

"Alright! You've both signed contracts to animal summons. This doesn't mean you can't have another contract though it is unusual to have more than one." Jiraiya began. "Sasuke has signed Itachi's Raven contract and Naruto my Toad's. The basis to create a scroll to summon animals is the same as one to summon your weapons, except," Jiraiya help up a finger pointedly. Sasuke fought not to roll his eyes. He'd never learned this before, he'd only signed contracts, not created them. "The blood base."

"Base?" Naruto asked confused.

"When you seal an object into a scroll you write the seal, place the object, then bleed to seal them into the scroll. You pull them using more blood correct?" He waited for them to nod and pulled up his chest. "In creating a Summons you write the Summoning seal with the _willing _blood of the animal and it binds that animal and all its pack members, including those above to the Summons. However, more powerful members, like an Alpha Wolf of a large pack when you got the blood of a lower member, has the ability to refuse if it feels as if you're wasting its time." Jiraiya taught them how to create the seals but they didn't make any that day. Jiraiya never mentioned Kyuubi so neither did they. Sasuke and Naruto knew that he _knew _of the fox but they were unsure if he was aware of their communications with him. After they were sure that they knew what they needed to understand, Jiraiya moved on to other seals he insisted they knew. Naruto learned but didn't seem to feel a special draw to seals, whereas Sasuke soaked up the knowledge and sought Jiraiya out later to learn seal creation. Where he was a warrior before, he wanted to be support now. He was tired of death and while he knew he couldn't totally avoid it, he didn't want his destiny to be that anymore.

That night, Kyuubi pulled Naruto and Sasuke into his cage to talk. "**The Summons would work but when it was released, I would return here and it is unlikely that I would be able to get too far from you.**" Kyuubi told them, his voice almost bored but Sasuke and Naruto could see his tails twitching excitedly.

"Can you change your size? I doubt you'd be left alone if you appeared like that…" Naruto grinned thinking of the chaos that would come from that.

"**I can appear the same size as the foxes that run around your home.**" He answered.

"Do we use your blood or the foxes we have?" Sasuke asked.

"**Theirs. I** **don't really have a body in here and it is doubtful you could take anything you did get out of here with you.**" Kyuubi replied.

"We'll do it tomorrow then." Naruto decided closing his eyes.

"How are your lessons with Jiraiya going?" Sasuke asked leaning against the bars.

"They're going well, I guess." Naruto shrugged. "It's hard to tell if he's taking things seriously." He smirked, "However, every time he goes off to do 'research' he seems to always get caught. It's hard to understand." His blue eyes were wide with fake innocence and Sasuke and Kyuubi both chuckled. "I've made progress but at the moment I haven't mastered the Rasengan."

"I've gotten my speed high enough to do chidori, I think, but Itachi said I can't try it without Kakashi here."

"Why not?" Naruto asked.

"Safety, I guess." Sasuke sighed. Minutes later they both relaxed and let themselves drift off to sleep. At dawn they awoke and separated to their different instructors.

Itachi worked Sasuke hard, teaching him clan secrets that had disappeared before and increasing his strength and speed. Since he remembered the techniques he'd learned in his other life, he simply had to build his body up to having the ability to use them. He knew Naruto was both increasing strength and speed and learning new things from Jiraiya. A part of him felt bad that none of Team 7 was training under Kakashi solely but…they each had teachers who would work for the specifics they needed.

Sakura was working with Anko about strength, agility, and using the fact that she was a woman against her opponent. Sasuke had no doubt that Sakura would apprentice under Tsunade if she returned to the village but for now, Anko was an effective teacher. They'd come by for lunch the day before and though Sakura was terrified of Anko, she fully enjoyed learning from her because she was "definitely learning".

Time was passing. It was only a week until the Final part of the Exams.

* * *

"Take the afternoon off guys." Jiraiya said during lunch a few days later. "Itachi and I have a few things that we need to take care of."

Sasuke and Naruto stared at the older men and took in Itachi's brief flash of annoyance and Jiraiya's almost solemn look and knew it had to do with the Hokage. "Alright." They agreed nodding slightly. Minutes later, the two were gone and Sasuke and Naruto glanced around at each other then darted into their bedroom to see if the foxes were lounging on their bed.

They were. Naruto knelt by the bed and stared straight at the largest fox, the male they had named Akio. "Will you willingly give us your blood to form a summoning contract?"

Akio nodded slightly and moved closer to Naruto offering one of his legs. Naruto carefully cut open the fox's leg and let the blood drip into a small bowl Sasuke handed him. When they had enough, he gently bound the wound and gave the fox a grateful smile. "Thank you so much."

Akio nodded back and turned around to curl back up with his family and went back to sleep.

Sasuke and Naruto gathered the other materials they'd need and made their way to the same room where they had removed Anko's curse mark. They wanted plenty of room for Kyuubi to stretch out in. If he was unable to control his size as he thought, there would be no where for them to go and summon him without telling the world he was there but if he was able to change his size, this room would give him plenty of space to move around and stretch outside the cage.

Silently, Sasuke began mixing the blood with ink as Naruto spread out the scroll. With one last look, Sasuke put a brush into the mix and began to draw the seal. It wasn't a difficult seal, but it had to be perfect or else there was a high chance of it not working. They knew it was successful however, when it glowed a faint red color as Sasuke lifted the pen from the finished scroll.

They held their breaths as they both signed in their own blood on the contract and Sasuke rolled the scroll back up while Naruto stood and breathed deeply. _Please let this work._ Sasuke thought briefly before Naruto bit into the middle finger of his left hand and pushed chakra out, summoning a fox.

There was a loud explosion of wind and dust and when it calmed, a fox the size of a horse stood in front of them, it's fur a dark russet and its eyes the color of blood. One tail waved lazily in the air behind it but there were nine white lines climbing it.

"**Ahh. It's good to be free.**" A dark smirk curled Kyuubi's muzzle and he tilted his head back and roared.

* * *

**I know. A bit of a cliff-hanger. But I hope you all enjoyed these two chapters. Please review! I have over 200 alerts and favs. So...could I please get, I dunno, 15 reviews lol. I seriously want opinions on how I'm doing not simply 'update soon'.**

**Next chapter. The last few days before the Final Task and the start of the final task. Depending on how long that takes, the attempted attack may be in a chapter of its own. BUT! Like I said, I am going to try to get 18 out before the end of two weeks. **


	18. A Brief Interlude

_A Brief Interlude_

* * *

Sasuke smiled softly as he watched Itachi moving around the kitchen preparing breakfast before he entered and sat down to pour himself a cup of tea. "Morning, brother."

"Good morning." Itachi replied quietly pushing a bowl of sliced fruits onto the table. "Naruto and Jiraiya have already left to begin training."

Sasuke nodded. "Naruto gets up before dawn on a regular basis." He munched on a piece of fruit as Itachi finally settled down across from him. He held in the grin that wanted to spread at being with his brother again and being together amicably instead of having to fight each other.

"Do you know why?" Itachi asked curiously studying Sasuke.

Sasuke paused to think and then sighed. "I believe it is because Naruto used to do extra training on his own in the mornings. The village…they treat him like dirt. They see the _fox _and not a young boy. Our teachers, with the exception of Iruka-sensei, would ignore him and not give him extra help if he needed it. So he would wake early to train longer and harder to try to keep up." Sasuke sighed, leaning his head on his fist. "Naruto is a lot like you, brother. He is loyal to a village that hates him and pushes himself as hard as he can."

Itachi gave Sasuke a small smile and poked him in the forehead. "The village may hate us, little brother, but we protect it because it's _home._"

"Itachi…you do believe me right?" Sasuke asked, suddenly feeling the age he looked. His brother meant as much to him as Naruto did. The fact that Naruto had believed him immediately was amazing and helped make this whole thing easier…but if Itachi didn't…

"You were never a liar." Itachi remarked simply, sipping an herbal tea.

"The Third is trying to track down Tsunade. I can teach her how to slow down your disease." Sasuke murmured, studying his brother carefully. Itachi paused and narrowed his eyes at his brother then waited for him to continue. "I…didn't know you were sick until the day you died. So I didn't have a living carrier to study but when Tsunade slows down the disease, she can study it and, hopefully, be able to figure out a cure."

"It may not be curable." Itachi told Sasuke quietly.

Sasuke nodded. "I know that. But I want to have as much time as possible to be with my big brother. Even if we only manage to slow it down, it gives me that much more time to know you." He felt rather sappy but, he had deeply regretted that he had killed his brother before learning the truth of Itachi's actions.

Sasuke sighed and finished his breakfast before following his brother outside. There was much to do and less time to do it in. (_LOL I couldn't resist. Hugs to anyone who catches the reference) _

* * *

Itachi gave Sasuke a small smile as he finally perfected the fire dragon jutsu he had been building his skills up to do. A small dragon like he had done before was good enough to use in most situations but by building up his chakra control to make a full, giant dragon, it would only increase his ability to perform in other areas as well. Sasuke was improving by leaps and bounds.

However, Itachi paused and studied the tired expression on Sasuke's face and sat down on a nearby bench and patted it telling Sasuke to sit. "You did not sleep well." He stated, looking at his brother from the corner of his eye.

"Naruto and I both suffer from nightmares. It helps that we sleep together but some nights nothing can stop the nightmares." Sasuke sighed rubbing his hands across his eyes.

"Of what?"

Sasuke paused to consider what to tell his brother. There was a lot in Sasuke's past that hadn't gone quite like he had wanted. "Naruto has nightmares about his childhood. The Village was not kind to him." He answered in a round-a-bout way.

Itachi was quiet for a few minute then asked the question Sasuke dreaded. "Do you have nightmares about me killing our parents?"

Sasuke ran a hand into his hair in resignation. "Not anymore."

Itachi reached out a hand and gently cupped Sasuke's shoulders in support. "I have always loved you, little brother."

Sasuke felt himself blush at his brother's unusual bluntness and sappy words. "I know." He admitted and leaned into his brother. If Itachi could say it… "I love you too, big brother."

* * *

Naruto was cuddled into the bed when Sasuke came in from the bathroom and when he pulled back the covers to look at Naruto; he saw his eyes were red with tears. "Naruto?" He asked crawling under the covers with his friend. "Are you alright?" Naruto shook his head and nodded it then shrugged. "That's not a very good answer." Sasuke murmured amused.

"I mastered the Rasengan." Naruto said quietly.

Sasuke froze and wrapped his arms around Naruto comfortingly. "How do you feel about it?"

Naruto took a deep breath and then looked up at Sasuke. "Proud, sad, afraid…"

"Why afraid?" Sasuke asked brushing away the streaks of tears on Naruto's cheeks. He could hear Kyuubi rumbling comfortingly in Naruto's mind when their eyes met and he knew that he was trying to comfort him as well.

"What…what if he would be ashamed of me?" Naruto asked almost too quietly to be heard.

"Rubbish." Sasuke told him bluntly. "He would have been incredibly proud of you. You're strong, determined, compassionate. Everything I've ever heard your father being. He loved this Village and so do you. The Village treated you like crap and still you want to train so you can learn to protect them." Sasuke's voice was firm and Naruto seemed to be trapped in his words. "I think that he is incredibly proud of you and that there is nothing you could do that would make him prouder."

Naruto sniffled and tucked his face under Sasuke's chin. "Thank you, Sasuke." He breathed.

Sasuke ruffled Naruto's hair and hugged him tightly. "Go to sleep."

* * *

Sakura dropped to the ground beside them and sighed. "How do you guys like training with your sensei's?" She asked glancing over at Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Itachi. Itachi wore an ANBU mask when Sakura was on the grounds. Even though Anko and Kakashi knew about Itachi's presence, Sakura was still ignorant, she was told he was a specialty ANBU selected by the Third and just accepted that.

"Jiraiya isn't too bad if I can keep his mind off the hot springs." Naruto laughed. "I've mastered Summoning and the Rasengan already, plus a lot of smaller skills."

"Anko's really good. I was kind of mad that I had to have a different teacher and training grounds than you guys but I'm glad now. Anko, while utterly terrifying and incredibly sadistic, really knows how to teach a girl what it means to be a Kunoichi. I think I may talk to the third about adding an extra class to the Academy for girl students." Sakura commented thoughtfully.

"Like what?" Naruto asked curiously. Sasuke also looked at her with interest. Anko wasn't known for her…feminine charms.

Sakura blushed lightly. "Well, some of it I can't use until I'm older and some of it I don't have to use but she taught me the theory behind some of the more revealing outfits that some wore and the theory behind seduction as a weapon."

Naruto blinked blankly and Sasuke wondered for a moment what she "can't use" now. The thoughts that came into his mind were actually rather terrifying. "How…"

Sakura's blush increased and she twiddled with her fingers. "Well…there's another Kunoichi that trains young students in dancing. Anko took me to visit her."

Sasuke and Naruto both blushed bright red. "She didn't!"

Sakura laughed and shook her head. "No she didn't! But she did teach me that people let their guards down around innocent looking girls." Sakura smirked and held up the kunai she'd swiped from Naruto's pouch.

Sasuke and Naruto grinned and Naruto held up a hairpin with a distinct pink strand attached. "We learned that one too." The three of them collapsed in giggles as their teachers looked over in confusion.

"Children." Sasuke heard Kakashi say.

* * *

Sasuke watched Naruto and Gaara sitting side by side out in the gardens, unashamedly listening in on their conversation.

"My village hated me too. They would throw rotten vegetables and fruit at me or only sell me the rotten stuff when I bought groceries. They made sure I knew that they hated me." Naruto told the red head quietly.

"What did you do?" Gaara asked running a hand down Shun's back.

Naruto shrugged. "I played pranks on the villagers. I cried when I got home at night. I worked harder. I wanted them to look at me and see me and then while they were looking, I wanted them to see that I was a strong, hard worker."

"Why?" Gaara's voice was full of confusion. It was obvious to Sasuke that he didn't understand Naruto's reactions. But then, in his own case, his reactions had been similar until his betrayal by his uncle.

"I don't know. It's just the way I decided to react. The pranks didn't make them like me more, but it made them dislike me for something I had actually done." Naruto told him.

Gaara was quiet and Naruto changed the subject to his favorite foods and asked about the different foods the Village Hidden in the Sand had. Sasuke wandered back into the house, a small smile on his face. Naruto was, and would always be, good for Gaara.

* * *

_As I said previously, RL was kicking butt for a while; however, things are much calmer now. I know I left off in a terribly cruel place and that this chapter did not continue there but since I didn't do the loads of details on training, I thought this was a good place to throw this in as the next chapter will start the next test. Let me know what you think, I may add a second interlude with more training later if you feel like it's needed. _

_Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and alerted and made the story a favorite while I was so busy and it is my __**intention**__ to finish the story before July. No promises, but it is the goal I am working for!_

_**AUTHORS NOTE 6/17/11: I am gettiing really tired of people who read nine chapters and complain at me so I'm adding this here and at the end of the latest chapter. This story IS Sasuke/Naruto, HOWEVER, they are twleve years old! There is no kissing, no making out, no fondoling, no sex NOTHING of that kind. I do not believe children that age should be doing those things and that they are not mentally or physically developed enough to do that. So, that being said, it is pretty much PRE-slash/yaoi and only happy feelings of comfort and friendship. ALSO, I noted ORIGINALLY that I was only following up to around where Itachi died in Canon, I am pretending that nothing after that ever happened! I KNOW Orochimaru couldn't really do all he does in this, I DO NOT CARE. It's AU. If this bothers you just don't read. I'm sorry for ranting but I am annoyed.**_


	19. The Last Task

_Alright, everyone. The last three chapters are going to be posted now! I had a few bits of trouble and may go back and edit them because of issues I had with some scenes but I am posting what I have since I am terrible at keeping up with deadlines. I hope you all enjoy the end of the story and I hope it wasn't too terribly disappointing! If you have anything you want me to expand on, let me know and I will work on it!_

* * *

The morning of the Last Task, Kakashi and Sakura showed up to meet Sasuke and Naruto. As no one knew who trained the two boys outside of Kakashi, Anko, and Sakura knowing Naruto's mentor and only Anko knowing about Sasuke's, it seemed a better idea for Kakashi to escort the original team to the stadium together. The four of them walked towards the arena but paused briefly at the bridge where they'd used to meet.

Kakashi cleared his throat and turned to look at the young ninjas. "I wanted to apologize to all of you." He started and handed small scrolls to each of them. "I was not a very good instructor to you in the brief time we had together. I have no real excuses. I believe that deep inside, I simply was not ready to teach a group as diverse as you three. You are all strong in your own ways and none of that can be contributed to me." He smiled at them behind his mask though they could see his regret. "I am very proud of you."

Sakura blinked tears away and hugged Kakashi as both Naruto and Sasuke gave him little smiles of forgiveness. It was Naruto though, the one most often actively suffering from others neglect who helped Kakashi feel his forgiveness. "You did teach us something. Persistence in the face of overwhelming odds is never a mistake."

They opened their scrolls as a way to break the tension and smiled at the picture Kakashi had presented them all with. It was of the four of them, just after they'd been accepted by Kakashi for training. "Once everything is done…let's get Ramen." Naruto said turning to head off again.

"Do we have to? Anko has got me hooked on dango." Sakura whined though you could see the mischief in her eyes.

"I'd prefer stir-fry." Kakashi put in, his voice sounding much brighter to Sasuke.

"Oden." Sasuke threw in. He knew that as the last to say something, he should have picked one of the others choices but he felt by continuing the argument, it was giving them a chance to talk again.

They continued bickering for a few minutes but as they finally reached the stadium Sakura managed to come up with the decider. "Least injured gets to pick."

"Least injured before healing! No cheating and sneaking off to get patched up." Naruto declared wagging a finger at Kakashi and Sauke.

Sasuke huffed in annoyance and nodded in agreement. He'd have to keep an eye on Naruto however to see what injuries he had prior to Kyuubi starting to heal him. Kyuubi wouldn't think of it as cheating he was sure. They separated at the door to the stadium, Kakashi heading to the stands and team 7 headed to the contestants rooms. Sasuke could feel the air vibrating around Naruto in his excitement and indulged in a small smile at his friends' exuberance. The three of them were not the first team to enter the room but not the last: Hinata, Kiba, and Shino were still missing as well as one of the other villages' teams.

Naruto squeezed Sasuke's hand gently, secretively, then went over to bother Gaara. The development of the friendship was totally different from Sasuke's original time line but Sasuke still could not understand how Naruto managed to talk to and tug at Gaara without having to dodge deadly attacks. Sasuke just smirked at Gaara's put upon expression and moved to talk to Shikamaru.

"Any idea as to what the last task involves?" Sasuke asked Shikamaru as he leaned against the wall beside the lazy boy.

Shikamaru hummed in a negative response. They glanced at the door as the final team entered, Hinata, Shino, and Kiba with Akamaru riding on his head. Moments later a bell sounded and the group found themselves ushered out onto a balcony which overlooked the arena field.

The Third stood on a high balcony that overlooked the entire stadium. Beside him sat the fake Sand Hokage, Orochimaru, with Baki behind him and Ibiki behind the Third. He opened his arms in a gesture of welcome and began his welcoming speech. "Welcome Genin, ninjas, judges, and spectators to the Final Task in these Chuunin Exams. These exams are used to determine the skills, talents, and abilities of our Genin to see who has made the progress required to continue on and earn the rank of Chuunin. The Tasks that our genin will be performing will test their strengths, their weaknesses, and their ability to improvise in dangerous situations."

He paused for the murmurs to die down and gave the genin a warm smile. "Each task has been randomly matched to each genin. No two genin will face the same challenge." He spread his arms wide. "And now! Let the challenges begin."

The crowd roared and Sasuke felt the blood rush through his body in excitement and anticipation. The time for the attack was nearing. He knew it, the Hokage knew it, all of Leaf's ninjas knew it. He was ready to see this through.

In the middle of the ring came a bang to attract the attention of the crowds. Standing in the arena was the Last Task's judge, a ninja that looked perpetually tired. "Our first challenger is Hanuro Sakura." Sasuke and Naruto patted her on the back as she moved to the edge of the balcony. With an only slightly nervous smile, Sakura leapt from the edge of the railing and landed by the judge. "Congratulations on getting this far." The judge said to Sakura, sounding less than enthusiastic. He clapped his hands twice and suddenly there were twenty-five ninjas of all stages around the arena. Some were standing, others sitting, some leaning against the wall, and laying on the ground. "Your challenge is to find and retrieve a special scroll from one of the men in the arena." He raised a finger to draw her attention back to her. "There are three rules. One, you cannot attack any of these men. Two, you cannot use any handheld weapons. Three, you have thirty minutes to complete this task."

Sakura nodded in understanding: a look of determination on her face. The judge disappeared and Sakura stood for a moment looking at the fellow ninja around the arena.

Up in the balcony Sasuke leaned against the railing watching the young girl below. The tasks here were _very _different than the task he had to compete in. One on one battles were what he had to face. These 'challenges' were definitely a better way to judge who was able to be a successful ninja. Instead of seeing who was able to _fight_ better, they had to see who could _think_ better. That didn't mean that some of the challenges wouldn't judge fighting skills but there was more to being a ninja than fighting.

"How do you think she'll do it?" Naruto asked leaning against the railing beside Sasuke.

Sasuke shook his head slowly watching as Sakura began walking around the men, speaking to one or two of them briefly but touching each gently on the arm. "I don't know."

On Naruto's other side Ino sighed loudly and made eyes at Sasuke. "I doubt she'll figure anything out. She wasn't that talented while we were at school."

Sasuke gave Ino a dirty look. "It's very rude to talk badly about your friends Ino." He remembered that the two of them had always fought back and forth in school trying to impress him, but he had forgotten the trash talking that went on between them. It got old quickly.

Suddenly, Sakura stamped her foot and slowly, each ninja began to yawn and sway until they were all sleeping on the ground. She then made a small cut on the palm of her hand and used a Summon to bring forth a small, three foot snake. "Search the men for a scroll." She told it calmly.

Ino gasped at seeing the casual use of drugs and Summon that Sakura used. "Where did she learn that?" She asked incredulous as the snake quickly moved from man to man scenting the air above them.

"She was training you know." Naruto remarked sarcastically. Ino stuck her tongue out in reply and saw the snake speed back to Sakura a scroll in its mouth. The crowd cheered as she bent to pick up the scroll.

"Congratulations." The judge appeared before her. "Now, explain your technique."

Sakura bowed and handed the judge the scroll. "In my pocket I had a jar of sleeping powder. I spread a bit on each man but sealed it from affecting them. After I put it on all of them, I dispersed the chakra sealing it. Because none of the ninja seemed to be affected when I touched them, none stopped me. Once they were all asleep, I summoned a snake, an intelligent creature, who would be able to taste the presence of a scroll to quickly find it." She explained concisely. Her confidence much more apparent now than it had been even weeks before.

The judge nodded and Sakura left the arena as the ninja were woken and dismissed.

"Good job, Sakura!" Naruto greeted her when she returned to the balcony with the others.

She smiled at him and nodded and Sasuke noticed her hands were trembling slightly. "Anko will be proud." He told her with a small smirk.

"Yeah," She straightened a bit in pride in her accomplishments. "Maybe she'll buy me some dango as a reward." She smirked back but Sasuke could still see the worry in her eyes. Sakura knew what was coming as they all did and he could see she was worried about it. He gripped her shoulder in support and they looked down as the judge cleared his throat.

"The next challenger is Uzamaki, Naruto." The crowd was a mix of cheers and jeers, those who knew Naruto and his smile cheered while those who knew only of the fox jeered. Naruto ignored it and started down. However, before he made it the crowd went silent as the Hokage stood.

"At this moment, I am ashamed of many of you. A shinobi should be respected by his village. If he is not, why should he bother to protect them? If I ever see a repeat of this behavior, I will punish the entire village." The Hokage glared out at the audience and many guilty people shifted while Naruto's friends looked proud that the Hokage was finally standing up for the young ninja.

Sasuke felt his heart race in both pride and fear. Was the Hokage acting this way because he feared his death was coming and wanted to prove he stood by Naruto before it? Or was he truly ashamed at them? If he died, would they revert back, assuming his successor wouldn't hold up that punishment? Sasuke shook his head as Naruto met the judge, a light dusting of red on his cheeks. He couldn't know and hopefully when the battle was over, he would be able to figure it out.

"Congratulations on getting this far. Naruto, your challenge is to discover the real ninja." Thirty clones dropped into the arena around the two of them. "You have a time limit of fifteen minutes." The judge looked around at the scattered clones and gave Naruto an encouraging nod.

"Any restrictions?" Naruto asked to clarify. Sasuke and Sakura both leaned forward. Was he _smirking?_

'**Oh, this will be amusing.'** Kyuubi's voice entered Sasuke's head. Sasuke decided against asking, wanting to be surprised.

"The rules for your challenge are that you cannot seriously injure or kill your opponent; you cannot poison them; and the fifteen minute time limit." The judge counted off the three rules. "Any questions?"

Naruto shook his head and the judge nodded again and left to the side of the arena. Naruto looked around at the ninja surrounding him and began to smile. He made a few hand signals and popped out three clones who all stood back to back looking in each direction.

Sasuke looked a bit confused when he noticed the Hokage shift his hat over his eyes and his shoulders shaking. _What's he doing…oh no…he isn't! _Sasuke began to smile as one of Naruto's signature moves popped into his mind.

The four Naruto's made another set of hand signals and were covered in smoke. When the smoke cleared away Sasuke realized he was right. Where young male Narutos had stood, there were now four voluptuous women Narutos. There was a moment of shock in the audience and in the challenge clones and then as one, they popped out of existence as they and their originator passed out from a sudden rush of blood to the head. The four Narutos smirked in success and turned to give the audience a thumbs up.

There was a sudden rush of laughter from Naruto's friends as he let both jutsus release. The judge had a smirk on his face as he jumped back into the ring. "A very swift and successful maneuver. Explain your reasoning."

Naruto straightened and looked at the judge seriously. "Clones are dispelled through shock and pain. By changing into a naked woman, there was a shock to the system which caused blood to rush to the head and caused them to lose consciousness. This dispelled the clones leaving only the original left. While this technique would not have worked on a female ninja, it was a viable plan to use on a male."

The judge nodded and dismissed Naruto from the ring to the rambunctious cheers of his friends and the hesitant applause of the crowd. Sasuke smirked proudly at Naruto when he returned to the room and the congratulations of his fellows. "Way to go Naruto."

Naruto flushed lightly in pride. "Thanks! I had to keep the knucklehead ninja title going." He winced and laughed as Sakura cuffed him on the back of his head with a chuckle.

"Good job, Naruto." She congratulated before they had to turn back to the arena. Sasuke was proud of Sakura. She really had grown up within the last few months. Naruto gave Sasuke a shy look and Sasuke gently brushed a finger along the back of his hand. He was also proud of Naruto's newfound confidence. He'd gotten stronger and blossomed under the positive attention he'd received since Sasuke came back to the past.

"**Unorthodox,**" Kyuubi murmured in their minds. "**But an effective technique nevertheless.**"

"_Thanks, Kyuubi._" Naruto replied, the flush not fading from his cheeks.

"**Don't let your guard down. I have a feeling things will be starting soon." **Kyuubi warned them. Naruto and Sasuke nodded slightly as the judge stepped out with the next challenger's name.

"Aburame, Shino." The judge called out. Seconds later Shino was standing before him. "Shino, congratulations on getting this far in the tournament. Your challenge is to rescue a hostage. You shall be blindfolded with your hands tied behind your back. The only rule you have is to rescue her without causing injury to her within 20 minutes."

Shino nodded and let the judge blindfold him and tie his hands up before the 'hostage' was brought out. She was hoisted into one of the trees across from Shino and left to dangle with her mouth gagged to keep from making involuntary sounds.

The judge counted down and then told Shino to begin. After a moment of seemingly nothing happening, Sasuke started to rub his ears when the sound of buzzing began to get louder. _I see…_Sasuke thought suddenly realizing what was happening. A snap sounded from the arena as the ties binding Shino's hands broke and he tugged off the blindfold and readjusted his sunglasses before heading over to the tree where the woman was hanging. He aimed a shuriken at the rope holding her up and caught her as she fell. It was easily the quickest anyone had completed their challenge.

The judge appeared beside Shino as he set the woman on her feet and untied the ropes. "Congratulations Aburame Shino, you completed the challenge extremely quickly. Now please tell us your method." He requested coughing lightly into his hand.

"I used my bugs to break my ropes. Then I cut the rope holding the woman." Shino replied succinctly. The judge stared at him for a moment and Shino grunted in slight annoyance. "I also had considered attempting to dislocate my shoulders to get my hands in front of me." Once again he stopped with no embellishment and those up the in balcony laughed. Shino did not talk more than he had to that was for sure. Finally the judge and older shinobi chuckled and sent Shino back to the others as the audience cheered.

A few minutes later the judge once again appeared. "Sabaku no Gaara."

Sasuke felt himself suck in air as he glanced towards Gaara. Gaara met his and Naruto's eyes with a small nod. They all were aware that Gaara's challenge would be the signal for the Sound to attack. Sasuke turned his back to the stadium briefly and therefore the Hokage's and signaled to the other genin that the battle was likely to begin soon.

Gaara nodded slightly towards Baki when he was called down to the arena. The judge had barely begun instructing him on his task when Sasuke felt the air shift. None of the genin were listening to the judge, they were all waiting and judging by the serious looks on their faces, they felt the same shift he had. The attack was about to begin. Sasuke held his breath for a moment then let his body relax. It was time.

* * *

_:) Big battles a-coming! What did you think of the tasks? I tried to do unusual activities since everyone always seems to have the one-on-one battles. Review!_


	20. The Battle Against Sound

Gaara's task was to remain undetected inside the arena for a full ten minutes by Jounin but before anything had really begun, a loud bang outside the walls of the Village sounded. About three dozen spectators stood and shed disguises to reveal Sound uniforms and the fake Kage from Sand, Orochimaru, leapt to his feet.

He appeared disconcerted however, even from where Sasuke stood, when the Jounin and Hokage only turned to him ready to fight and Baki behind him stepped away. The stadium had two dozen Sand and Leaf ninja each plus those testing and Team Gai ready to battle inside the arena.

Sasuke himself knew that the walls were lined with more Leaf ninja and Sand held a position behind the Sound attacking from the outside. Orochimaru was outflanked and outmaneuvered without even realizing it was happening. Sasuke could only imagine the confusion and panic Orochimaru was going through. Not only did he miss the chance to attack Sasuke during the Second Task, but now his siege already seemed to be going pear shaped.

Sasuke and Naruto met up with Sakura and the three of them jumped to where Kakashi was directing civilians to the exit and keeping an eye on the enemy ninja near him. They seemed to be waiting at the moment and Sasuke knew it wouldn't be long before Orochimaru sent them to attack. The civilians were rushing but no one was running in a blind panic; living in a world where ninja lived and trained, they were unfortunately used to attacks and were well versed in evacuation plans.

"Sasuke, Naruto, take the enemy on this level. Sakura, you and I will take the level below." He ordered as the last of the civilians raced through the exit leaving the four of them and three other Leaf ninja in second level of the seats. "You three, top level." He ordered the others who nodded and jumped to the top level and began to attack. There were six on the upper level and six on the level with Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke was unsure how many were below them but he assumed between four and six judging by the numbers he could see spread out around the arena.

Sasuke watched Kakashi and Sakura disappear over the edge of the balcony and knew that the Sound ninja would not hold off much longer. He could almost feel their arrogance, believing they'd be able to take the two young genin easily. Just as he and Naruto pulled out kunai, a burst of sand had Gaara landing beside them. He looked to find the other two Sand siblings and noticed they were spread around the arena where the fighting looked like it would be heaviest.

"Ready, Gaara?" Naruto asked smiling at his friend. Gaara glanced at him and hummed in reply, his stance loosening a little in preparation for fighting.

Sasuke chuckled lightly, next thing you knew, they were going to start counting how many they took out in competition for most kills. He groaned as Kyuubi laughed in his mind at the suggestion. "Let's just deal with these guys and we can go see where else we need to help." He told the two of them and leapt forward as Orochimaru, Baki, the Hokage and his guards disappeared from their balcony signaling the Sound to attack.

He flowed around his first attacker, around the outthrust arm and towards his back to stab between the two ribs closest to his heart, the attacker dropping instantly as Sasuke ruptured his heart and turned to the next attacker. There were six on this level, now five, and three were surrounding Naruto and Gaara while the last two were standing back making hand signs. Sasuke interrupted one who looked as if he was going to use a fire attack by launching a kunai at his forehead and launched at the other biting his thumb and releasing his seal to summon ravens like Itachi had taught him. The ravens circled briefly before dive bombing the unsuspecting ninja who threw his hands over his face only to be skewered by Sasuke's sword. He hadn't trained as much as he should have with a sword in this younger body, so his aim was slightly off and he punctured the man's lung rather than his heart but it was still fatal and he and his cloud of ravens turned to the last ninja by him. He was dead.

Sasuke shook his head and tugged the kunai from his forehead. He apparently had been so caught up in his hand signs or in Sasuke's movements he hadn't noticed the weapon flying at him. Sasuke looked towards Naruto and Gaara to see them throwing the last body off the balcony into a ninja attempting to jump up to their level. As they collided, the body exploded and Naruto gave a half-smile. They apparently had covered the body in explosive tags which exploded when it collided with the incoming ninja.

"Nice idea, Gaara." He said to his partner and the two of them made their way to Sasuke. Just as they met up, a Leaf ANBU landed beside Sasuke.

"Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara." The Ninja dipped his head slightly and made a signal with his left hand, letting the three of them know it was Itachi. "New orders: Sasuke, you're with me. Naruto, Gaara, you are on the South Wall. They require assistance."

Sasuke turned to Naruto, his heart jumping briefly into his throat. He hadn't thought about them being separated. He knew that Naruto was strong, he'd been training hard and was a capable ninja. He just preferred to be able to keep an eye on his friend so he _knew_ that he was safe. He took a deep breath though and pushed his anxiety aside. Naruto would have Gaara with him and together the two of them, much like Sasuke and Naruto, were extremely powerful and would be hard to beat. He reached out to touch his hand to Naruto's before nodding at his brother. "Be safe." He told the two jinchūriki, he glanced at Gaara as well. Naruto would be devastated if anything were to happen to his new friend.

Gaara and Naruto nodded back at him and Sasuke took a long moment to study the expression in Naruto's eyes. He was worried and determined and strong. "You too." Naruto replied and they turned and leapt away.

"They will be fine. We need to assist the Hokage against Orochimaru. Baki and the Thirds guards are needed elsewhere so we will be his back up." Itachi explained as he led the two of them off. "One of the Four is dead so they are unable to create the shield you told us about but it seems as if he still intends to do his resurrection spell."

Sasuke cursed slightly beneath his breath. "Where is Jiraiya?" Sasuke asked as they stopped briefly to help a few civilians who were ambushed by two Sound ninja.

"North Wall. The explosion earlier was one of Orochimaru's snakes attacking that wall." Itachi explained and moments later they landed behind the Hokage. The two guards plus Baki nodded in gratitude and ran off towards the North Wall as the Third had commanded them too. They'd refused to leave him alone as good bodyguards would, but now that he had back up, they ran off to follow their orders.

"Ahh…Uchiha, Sasuke…you and your brother continue to cause problems for me." Orochimaru spoke softly looking over the two reinforcements. "Isn't it a pity what your poor, disturbed brother did? Killing your family? Tsk, tsk." His last three guards spread out behind him, panting softly from their previous battles.

Sasuke was sure Orochimaru was expecting him to attack out of rage, but instead he simply shifted his grip on kunai and sword, ready to defend at a moment's notice. He saw rage shift through Orochimaru's eyes when he realized Sasuke wasn't going to attack him and he turned his face back to the Hokage. "Children have to save you Hokage? You cannot fight on your own? Or have adult guards?"

The Hokage snorted and drew his arm back into a more comfortable position. "I take talent where talent lies."

Orochimaru snarled and leapt forward at the silent ANBU, hoping to catch him off guard and the three Leaf shinobi began to attack back as the final three of the Sound Four attacked as well.

* * *

**Naruto and Gaara**

The South Wall was cracked, but holding for the moment, a few more explosions and there would be a large gap in their defenses. As Naruto and Gaara arrived, the captain of the South Wall team looked at them and gestured to the large group of ninja below the wall, some of them were working on a summoning circle, others were gathered beneath the wall and still more were battling the Sand ninja who were behind them, posing as allies. "Can you do anything to either thin their numbers or do something about whatever they will summon?" It went against his training to ask an untrained child to fight but the Hokage had warned all captains that the genin who were to be tested this year were to be treated as adults. Whatever the group of them had done, they had impressed the Hokage enough to grant them chunnin without taking the tests it seemed.

Naruto looked out at the group below them, his mind racing with thoughts as Kyuubi gave him a few options as well. "I can help thin the numbers and possibly break the circle. Gaara, can you reinforce the wall first?"

Gaara nodded and knelt to place both hands on the wall beneath him. The captain shifted uneasily as he felt the wall tremble beneath him but he saw the crack begin to fill. Naruto leaned over the edge of the wall and studied the troops below. A good two dozen Sound were still working on summoning what Naruto assumed was one of the snakes Sasuke said Orochimaru was so fond of. He studied their positioning in the summon circle and smirked as an idea entered his mind, influenced by his working with Gaara earlier.

"**That will work well.**" Kyuubi told Naruto in his mind, chuckling darkly.

Really all Naruto had to do was crack the circle enough to distort the lines, that would prevent chakra from flowing through it and therefore no summon would be able to enter. It saddened Naruto that he wasn't able to let Kyuubi out to fight because the battle would have ended right there, but without the Third and the rest of the Leaf knowing Kyuubi wasn't a threat, they would attack him and probably Naruto as well. So he didn't summon Kyuubi but knew his idea would work well.

It would be pretty easy actually. He created a shadow clone and began to form a Rasengan as Jiraiya had taught him but he formed it in the clone's hand rather than his own. Once it was completed, Naruto covered the clone in explosive tags, like Gaara and he had the body earlier, and helped the clone launch from the wall. He slammed down into the right side of the circle where most of the ninjas were Rasengan-hand held out before him.

The explosion resulting from the Rasengan combined with the tags was much bigger than Naruto was expecting. He twinged at the shadow pain from the clone's death as he and a number of other Leaf ninja flew backwards off the back side of the wall. Fortunately, Gaara caught them with his sand. Naruto was the only one let down gently but at least Gaara had stopped everyone's impromptu flight.

"Thanks Gaara!" Naruto said grinning at his new friend before the two of them peered over the wall to see the destruction he had wrought. The summoning circle was almost completely gone as well as two-thirds of those trying to activate it. "That worked out rather well."

The captain had to stop a giggle from escaping at the understatement. Instead he cleared his throat. "Well, let's help Sand take care of the rest."

* * *

**Back to Sasuke**

Orochimaru was sweating heavily and bleeding from a number of wounds but he wasn't the only one injured. Sasuke had a nasty gash beneath his left eye where Orochimaru had almost succeeded in carving it out. Itachi's quick kick towards Orochimaru's face saved his eye though Itachi received a deep injury in his side from the guard he had been fighting at the time who took advantage of his distraction. The fight was not simply one fighter against another, each of them were constantly dodging hits from someone. One moment Sasuke might be fighting Orochimaru and the next he was against one of the Four. It was a very complicated fight but there was no denying the power and talent of those in the battle as no one injured members of their own team and managed to protect each other from the most devastating injuries. Orochimaru hadn't even succeeded in summoning the dead Hokages. Itachi had taken care of that rather quickly. As soon as the graves had started to rise, he'd blasted the ground with fire so hot it had melted it into a strong thick shield that held the coffins in place and closed.

The Third was the most damaged of the three of them. He was gasping for breath after trying to fight off two of Orochimaru's guards. He might have known all sorts of unusual jutsu, but that didn't mean they were being helpful enough to stand still and be hit. Finally, he had managed a weapon jutsu that managed to impale one of the guards with a thick javelin. As he coughed out his last breath the final guard turned to look at his companion, leaving an opening that Sasuke took advantage of as he ducked away from Orochimaru, sending a giant fireball to envelop the guard. Itachi took out the final of the Four and now the three of them stood in a loose circle around Orochimaru.

He hissed in anger and peered around the village. He had only briefly seen one of his snake summons before a giant toad began to battle it. He knew that meant Jiraiya was around and was helping their old mentor.

Sasuke breathed in deeply and shifted his stance as Orochimaru glared at the Third. The battle here was almost over. With his Four dead and the three of them ready to do battle against him, Orochimaru had nothing to throw at them to distract them. The Hokage, standing slightly behind Itachi began to move his hands quickly, in a pattern Sasuke recognized. He had to admit to being surprised that the Hokage had enough chakra to attempt it, but he assumed the Hokage would know his own limits.

"This is not over." Orochimaru glared at the three and started to reach into a pocket. Sasuke tensed, Orochimaru would be attempting to escape now. There was no way he was going to win, they all knew it, and Orochimaru probably thought the Hokage would refuse to kill him as he had years ago. What he didn't count on was the fact that Itachi and Sasuke would both willingly go against the Hokage and kill him if they had to.

"Yes it is." Itachi replied, talking for the first time. They saw Orochimaru's eyes widen in surprise, recognizing the voice and they jumped forward in attack. Sasuke moved quickly enough to slice his left arm off at the elbow as it bent in towards a pocked and Itachi took out his right arm. The Hokage slammed glowing hands into Orochimaru's chest. As Orochimaru gasped the Hokage stumbled back and Sasuke managed to catch him by the arm before he hit the ground. Orochimaru began to scream and thrash and eventually cursed at the Hokage before collapsing in convulsions.

"What…was that?" Itachi asked tilting his head and examining the twitching enemy.

"A bastardized version of one of the Hyuuga techniques. It floods the chakra system with super-charged chakra and explodes the points." Sasuke explained checking the Hokage over carefully. "It takes a lot of chakra out of the user but if used right, it can permanently disable the system of the person hit with it."

"Oh." Itachi murmured, then in a fit of childishness. "Good." Sasuke was startled enough to laugh. Without chakra, not only was Orochimaru not a threat, but he wouldn't even be able to re-grow his arms or switch bodies as he had revealed he'd been doing.

The Hokage gasped as he came back into consciousness and sat up carefully. "Did it work?" He coughed and peered around for his old student.

Sasuke and Itachi nodded before moving to wrap what was left of Orochimaru's arms to his sides and stop the bleeding. Itachi took the unconscious prisoner and the Hokage followed behind as they headed for the prison. Sasuke gave a wave towards the two and darted off towards the South Wall.

"**Things are under control over here**." Kyuubi's voice came through his mind. "**You might want to do some reconnaissance before joining us**."

Sasuke cursed under his breath at the wise words coming from Kyuubi and turned North instead. By the time he reached the wall, Jiraiyawas leaning against the large Toad and there was no longer a snake summon. "Orochimaru has been captured." Sasuke told the old Sannin. "The Hokage and an ANBU have him."

Jiraiya was quiet for a moment as his eyes took in the last bit of fighting going on around him and then nodded. "I'll join them." He finally announced. Sasuke moved away as Jiraiya began talking to his summon and moved along the wall, checking for pockets of activity still going on.

He couldn't imagine what Jiraiya was going through, or to some extent what Naruto had gone through before he'd returned to change the past. To know that someone you'd trained with, grown with, had turned into a monster. Jiraiya had been best friends with Orochimaru once upon a time and Orochimaru had turned to experimentation, torture, mutilation, and the murder of innocents. Did Jiraiya wonder how he missed it? Did he wonder if there was a way to prevent it? Could he had prevented this or done something different? Sasuke was sure he had. He'd dealt with similar thoughts as a child about Itachi. Wondering if he had been the reason Itachi had killed everyone and left him alive, wondered if he was a better brother if Itachi wouldn't have left him. But ultimately he knew, and was sure Jiraiya knew by now, people made their own choices. Other people and other things might influence decisions, but no one can make you do something you definitively do not want to do. Sasuke hadn't wanted to kill Kakashi or Naruto or Sakura and even though Orochimaru had frequently tried to convince him the only way to be stronger was to defeat them, he'd still refused.

About halfway to the South wall, Sasuke ran into Sakura, Kakashi, and team Asuma: Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji. They stood with a large group of Leaf and Sand nin surrounding bound prisoners. There were numerous injuries and a small group of nin were off to the side healing their more severely injured comrades. "How are things going over here?" Sasuke asked landing beside his teammate and leader.

"Sasuke!" Ino yelled, turning to him with a smile. Her smile faded at his frown. It was a war zone and Ino was trying to hit on him…he felt annoyance about that then let it go. Whatever enabled Ino deal with the stress of the battle and taking lives for the first time was helpful he supposed. It was still unpleasant but for now he could ignore it.

"We have defeated everyone around here. The survivors are all bound and have chakra seals on them." Kakashi explained, glancing around. "What updates can you give us?"

"Orochimaru has been defeated. The fighting at the North Wall is almost finished, they don't need help but if you want to and this place is secured, Team Asuma, you can give them a hand." He said to the other team. They looked at Asuma who with a quick glance around nodded and then the four of them took off. "I'm on my way to the South wall where Naruto is if you want to join me."

Kakashi and Sakura nodded immediately and the three of them took off towards their last teammate. Sakura seemed to be favoring her left hand but overall, Kakashi and Sakura both seemed to have come out of the battle relatively unscathed. "How was fighting in your area?" Sasuke asked as they ran.

"Not terribly heavy." Kakashi replied looking around. Both he and Sasuke were taking in damage as they ran to make sure they saw anything that needed to be taken care of.

"The Ino-Shika-Cho trio have been training with their fathers I believe." Sakura added. "They were much more efficient at using moves that would combine their talents." Sakura sounded slightly proud of their friends and Sasuke smirked at that. It had been a long time since Sakura was proud of Ino for something, he was rather happy their friendship looked like it might be repairing itself.

Finally they arrived at the South Wall. There were only a handful of ninja on the inside of the wall so they leapt to the top to peer over the edge.

Below them was a destroyed field, something massive had blown up down there. Bodies and bits of bodies were piled off to one side while medical teams worked on the injured just below the wall. Sasuke spotted Naruto's bright gold hair and Gaara's bright red hair and leapt from the wall to join the two.

They were working with the man who looked like the captain of the wall to clear rubble from one side of the exploded ground. Naruto glanced up with a serious face that turned into a smile as he saw Sasuke approaching. "Hey Sasuke!" Gaara glanced over as he moved a large amount of dirt towards the far side of the field and nodded in greeting.

Sasuke moved up beside Naruto picking up the two bottles of water that stood off to the side and handed one to Naruto and Gaara. "Everything alright over here?" He looked to the captain who nodded.

"All fighting is finished here. Naruto and Gaara were great help, when they joined the battle was over almost from the start." The captain said, smirking as Naruto blushed and Gaara twitched.

Sasuke smiled as Naruto ducked his head in embarrassment. He took a moment to look around. Sakura had moved to help move some rubble and Kakashi was discussing what had happened with the captain. It was over. There were more battles to fight, in their life there would _always _be more battles to fight, but this one at least was over.

* * *

Hours later Sasuke and Naruto sat in the kitchen of Sasuke's home with Itachi and the Sand Siblings eating a late dinner. They'd been out for hours transporting prisoners, repairing damage, and checking on civilians. Sasuke had noticed Naruto blushing lightly at some points when he heard praise for his actions during the battle. While the civilian's behavior wasn't changing all that much towards him, the ninja in the village had heard about how helpful Naruto had been and were starting to see him in a new way. It was something Sasuke was extremely happy for.

"Good job today everyone." Itachi commented half-way through dinner when the first pangs of hunger were assuaged. "The death toll was very low compared to what it would have been without everyone's assistance."

The younger ninja all nodded tiredly though with pride. "So, who will be the next Kazekage?" Naruto asked looking towards Gaara and his siblings.

"Baki will be in charge until we can decide what to do next. He seemed to believe that one of us will take charge." Temari answered Naruto, smiling softly.

Naruto nodded. "I think that would be for the best." He murmured looking off faintly.

"Why do you say that?" Kankaru asked leaning around his sister.

"Well, your father was in charge and you already know where he went wrong all the time, probably better than anyone. And you worked so well with us that it would reassure the minds of the Leaf to know the allies that fought so strongly beside us will be in charge." Naruto stammered blushing lightly.

Temari nodded sagely, agreeing with Naruto's points. "That is true. We don't want to risk another war right now and we don't need people to be too tense about relations between our villages." Naruto blushed again faintly at her agreement.

Itachi sent them to bed and promised to clean up not much later. Sasuke crawled into bed, his body already feeling sore to find Naruto sitting up with Kyuubi laying across the end of the bed the size of a medium dog.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked sitting down beside his friend. Naruto looked a little dazed as if he was having trouble coming to grips with what had happened. Sasuke wondered which part he might have been stuck on: the deaths he had caused today, the scale of the attack, or just how much adrenaline had been pumping through him today.

Naruto blinked as if coming up from water and glanced up at Sasuke. "Yeah…" He paused and Sasuke felt his heart race as Naruto reached out and slid his fingers through Sasuke's, lightly gripping his hand. "It's just sinking in, we saved the village, we changed the future you came from."

Sasuke nodded, "We did." He looked at Kyuubi who was watching both of them and sighed. "It both gives me relief and causes me worry. We knew what had been coming, now that everything has changed, we are blind to the future."

"**But that is how things are meant to be…**" Kyuubi told the two young ninja. "**The reason time jutsu are forbidden isn't only because the ninja is changing the world; it is also because those who try it go insane. You aren't the first to use it to try to save their village. Many times, once they do so, the differences in between the world they knew and the world they are in can be so drastic, that they don't know how to survive.**"

Sasuke nodded as he thought about that. "I can understand that. Say you were married to a woman in the first world but when you change time, she marries someone else. You'll still remember the love you had for her and she had for you, but she is no longer that one. I imagine that would hurt immensely." He looked down at where Naruto's hand held his. Of course sometimes you got luckier in the second world like Sasuke has. He not only got his brother back, alive and without all the lies and deceit but he also got Naruto.

With a sigh, he tugged Naruto until they both lay down on the bed, slightly cuddled together. "No matter what happens, we have each other."

Naruto nodded into Sasuke's shoulder while Kyuubi made a slight gagging noise causing the two of them to giggle. "Good night Sasuke, night Kyuubi."

Sasuke and Kyuubi said good night as well and for the rest of that night at least…everything was perfect.

* * *

_**A/N:**__ This chapter is the reason I missed my goal. I hate parts of the ending but I'm sick of looking at it so I'm going to post it and come back later and see if I can fix it a bit lol. And I really wanted to finish so I could post for you guys. _


	21. The Epilogue

_And finally...the epilogue..._

* * *

The few weeks after the attempted attack, unofficially known as Sound's Suicide, went by quickly as both the ninjas and civilians rebuilt their homes. There was going to be an award ceremony the following weekend but the working ninja didn't think about it. Though there were no deaths within the Rookies, there were deaths in the ranks above them as well as civilians. People mourned, people grieved, and people rebuilt.

"Hey Itachi!" Naruto called as he entered the house looking for his friend's brother. Sasuke rolled his eyes behind him.

Itachi leaned around the kitchen door to meet the eyes of Sasuke and Naruto and Sasuke felt his heart clench as he had for the last little while as he saw the blindness starting in his brother's eyes. "You yelled?" Itachi drawled, raising an eyebrow.

Sasuke laughed as Naruto blushed lightly. "Jiraiya and Sarutobi would like you to come to the Third's office." Sasuke explained. He wasn't told why the two old nin wanted to see his brother but his fingers were crossed that they had finally tracked Tsunade down. He had given them all the detailed information about treating his brother's condition that he had remembered from his old life and hoped that Tsunade, as talented with healing as she was, would be able to decipher that information into a cure for Itachi. When Itachi exited the kitchen, Anko was close behind him causing a light dusting to brush Sasuke's cheeks. _That _pairing was not something he had expected. But he saw how happy they made each other and refused to comment on anything.

"Oh, hello Anko! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked oblivious.

Sasuke coughed as Anko raised an eyebrow, mirroring Itachi's expression. "Never mind. We are going to meet Sakura. See you for dinner!" Sasuke said, grabbing Naruto's arm and dragging him from the house.

Naruto chuckled as they left causing Sasuke to believe his comment wasn't so 'oblivious' as he thought. Sasuke snorted when Naruto looked up and winked and linked fingers as they headed to the bridge where they usually met up.

As they approached, they examined the village around them. No one commented on the fact that their pinkies were entwined. A few people looked askance at them, a few smiled but no one spoke of it the few days they went out amongst the villagers. It was as if they believed that, as heroes and still children, however they might find comfort, they should take it. Much like the way Sasuke tried not to yell at Ino whenever she flirted outrageously with him.

As they reached the bridge, Sakura and Ino were standing there talking quietly. Sakura had her arms full of flowers, supposedly delivered by Ino who was back at her part-time job in the flower shop. The two girls looked up and smiled before Ino ran off. "No time to show you up today, Billiard Brow! See you tomorrow at the ceremony Sasuke!" She called over her shoulder.

Sakura sighed as her two teammates reached her side. "Do you think she'll ever stop calling me that?"

Sasuke chuckled softly as they turned and started off. "No I doubt it. It is definitely a pet name for you now."

Sakura and Naruto laughed and they spent the next few minutes in silence. Finally, they saw their fourth companion a few feet ahead, already waiting at the monument. "Kakashi! We have the flowers!" Sakura called out rushing ahead the last few steps. She laid them down at the foot of the monument and looked over at Kakashi. Kakashi knew a few of the ninja slightly but fortunately none of them had lost close friends. The line that bisected Kakashi's eye had gained a new cut beneath the eye though it was still covered by the mask he wore so Sasuke had been unaware of it before. Tenten had taken a kunai through her left hand and there was a faint dimple on the back of the hand but it had no effect on her abilities. The biggest injury for their group, according to Kiba who was trying to lighten their moods during one of the Rookies now weekly-gatherings, was that for almost a whole day, Chouji had not been hungry.

Team Kakashi spent a few hours in silence at the monument of heroes. Bonding together, spending time remembering the Will of Fire of their lost comrades. Naruto seemed to concentrate on his fathers and mothers names, finally knowing what they were. Sasuke gripped Naruto's hand in comfort when the boy sniffed and let his presence comfort him.

As they left Naruto grinned. "It's time to celebrate with Ramen now!" The others groaned. It was hard to believe Naruto won that bet. Sasuke bopped Naruto gently on the back of the head and they headed off for their food.

* * *

The ceremony was long but deeply meaningful. The genin became chunnin and though many of the older ninja felt that they were unsure about so many being promoted at once, no one spoke against the Hokage when he spoke of their daring, their skills, and their calm in the face of a war they had known was coming. He spoke of his pride in them for being able to participate in the planning and execution of protecting their village. He spoke of the amusement he felt when their Enemy realized that they were ready for them. The speech _was_ long but, it was _extremely _touching for those listening. It filled them all with inner strength and what the Hokage called, 'The Will of Fire'.

Sasuke watched as each one of the Rookies moved to gain the arm band that designated them as chunnin and had to fight a grin at Naruto's unusually serious expression. Everyone felt pride, in themselves and each other; joy, in their accomplishments; and awe, that the day had finally come. This day was a thousand times better than it had been the first time through. They were all together in celebrating; he hadn't run off, the others hadn't tried to rescue him, Naruto wasn't gone while the others progressed: everyone was _here. _

The two things that made it best of all: Naruto standing proudly beside him, and Itachi in the audience having begun his healing regime. There was nothing more important on this day than these two people being with him, the two people he loved, his family. Sasuke let a soft smile drift across his face as he received his arm band and moved to stand with the other new chunnin. It was a great day.

* * *

A week later, Sasuke asked for an audience with the Hokage. Itachi stood beside him and Jiraiya sat on the ledge of the window behind the Hokage. Also in the room were Naruto and the recalled Baki and sand siblings.

"Orochimaru is gone, but there is another threat. Not just to this village, but to all villages. And more particularly, to the Jinchuuriki." He looked at Naruto and Gaara as he said this. He remembered hearing tales of Naruto giving his life force to bring Gaara back from the dead after his beast had been stripped from him. It was something he was _not_ going to let happen again. "Itachi and Jiraiya have been spying on Atatsuki, but they may not know the true threat behind the group. The true threat is Tobi. His real name is Madara Uchiha. He is practically an immortal, having been born before the villages began, and he intends to take over all nations using the spirit powers of the tailed-beasts."

"What else can you tell us of them?" The Hokage asked after a moment to let it all sink it.

Sasuke gave him a smirk and began to talk.

* * *

_That's the end folks. I will probably be creating a sequel that goes past this point but I will need to catch up with the manga. I am WAY behind on my readings. I want to thank everyone who has been with me so far. I know there was a long gap there but I was never going to abandon it! I hope you all enjoyed the story as much as I did! It definitely took on a life of its own. Let me know if a sequel is a good idea. I will be working on Art of Love next and then posting some other new stories. _

_I am working on getting an AO3 (long wait list) because of all the drama going on here. I do not think I am at risk of being kicked off but better safe than sorry. I hope you all enjoyed this!_


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